Scientia Potestas Est
by Miss Insane Insanity
Summary: It's 2013. The world is in a terrible state - Voldemort won the war and has been ruling over most of the Magical World. Except for South Africa. A rebellious group called The Ravens fight him and his followers, and took it upon themselves to travel into the past to change the outcome of the war. But first, they need to overcome their own obstacles. AU/NON-CAN/OOC/OC/Swearing
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

Truth: The Battle of Hogwarts took place on 2 May 1998.

False: The Light came out victorious.

Truth: Voldemort succeeded in taking over the whole of Magical Britain by the end of July, 1998.

False: Harry Potter is alive.

Truth: The Weasley family went into hiding with their son Charlie in Egypt, in a house under the Fidelius Charm.

Truth: Ginny Weasley, at the age of sixteen, was pregnant with the child of Harry Potter.

False: Hermione Granger is loyal to the Light.

Truth: By the end of November 1998, Voldemort's influence reached the tips of Africa, bringing death and destruction.

False: Voldemort is insane.

Truth: Voldemort regained his appearance of Tom Marvolo Riddle after going through a ritual that was researched by Hermione Granger.

False: The Order of the Phoenix survived.

Truth: The Order was destroyed – and those who survived, joined the Dark in order to survive.

False: Voldemort was overthrown by The Resistance in 2000.

Truth: The Resistance was obliterated in 2001.

False: Voldemort was killed by Ron Weasley in 2003, who survived the battle.

Truth: The Dark Lord gained a lover.

False: The Heir of Voldemort died during childbirth.

Truth: Michael Riddle, heir to the Dark Lord Voldemort, was born from Hermione Granger on 9 April 2004. Hermione survived.

Truth: James Sirius Potter died at the age of 6 from a Death Eater attack.

False: Ginny Weasley recovered from the death of her only son.

Truth: By the year 2010, Voldemort's influence had reached the whole world. Those who resisted, were either killed, or given an extra chance to change their minds.

Truth: Voldemort achieved immortality and eternal youth shortly after the 19th of April, 2010.

False: Voldemort's influence was especially strong in South Africa.

Truth: The Ravens from South Africa formed a new Resistance to take down Lord Voldemort.

Truth: On 17 August 2013 the Ravens travelled back to the year 1996.

Truth: Voldemort NEVER saw it coming.

Truth: Neither did the Light.


	2. Chapter 1 - Final Round

**A/N: Slang (which will be italicized) and their meanings will be on my profile!**

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**Chapter One - Final Round  
**_**Kimaine James POV  
Thursday, 15 June 2013**_

_The Time Travel_ project was a project that I had trained for my entire life (or well the last six years, if you want to be specific.) We all had, really. The chance to go into the past to change the events that had transpired would be amazing, and every person from all over the country had been preparing for this for years.

The idea was to have a group of fifteen or so students and two adults to go to Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts. None of us had any idea how we would convince Dumbledore to allow us entrance, but I guessed that we had to wait and see. Professor Adrian had promised that everything would turn out the way it was supposed to.

Did I believe him? Of course.

As I sat in my school's Assembly Hall a nervous excitement was buzzing around me and my friends. Today was the day that we would be going through our last test to determine who would be chosen to travel back to the past. The only downside was that we had to do it in front of all the twenty-five finalists, and that in itself was nerve-wrecking. Did I add that the finalists were from _all over the world? _

"Number Eleven, please come forward!"

A hard poke in my side brought me out of my daydreams. I glared at my best friend and hissed, "What the Hell, Kerri! That hurt!"

Said best friend rolled her eyes. "You're up, Kim! They called you!" Although she tried to appear nonchalant, I clearly noticed the worry in her dark grey eyes. Her red curls stood wildly in all directions, giving her a slightly crazy appearance.

I offered her a reassuring smile and quickly stood up. We were luckily seated near the front of the Assembly Hall, so the walk to the stage was short and over quickly. When I reached the middle of the stage, I took a deep breath and faced the three Professors (or trainers, if you will). On the right side was Professor Mira Muller – a grumpy but talented old witch that had been with our school for over thirty years now. Her grey hair was tied into a loose bun, and she wore a bored expression as she quickly finished her notes.

Next to her sat Professor Adrian James, lovely brother of mine. He was the youngest teacher at Grey's School of Magic, being only twenty eight years old. His dark hair hung in his green eyes as he gazed thoughtfully at me. Seeing my frown, he flashed me a quick smile, which I weakly returned.

Then, next to Adrian, was Professor Demarco Bulero. He was around thirty-eight years old and had only stared to teach DADA here last year, but since he used to be an Auror he was much respected. He lifted his dark eyes to me, and said in his rich voice, "Please state your full name, age, and Country of Origin."

_You can do this, Kimaine! It's an easy enough question_. "Kimaine James, 16 years old. I was born and raised in the Eastern Cape, South Africa." My voice was crystal clear, belying the slight nervousness churning in my gut. This was our final test, after all. I couldn't afford to screw this up.

Bulero hummed. "Why should you be part of the group to travel to the past?"

That was actually a good question and I had to think about my answer for a while. I knew that from our group, the Professors wanted some of us to join Voldemort's ranks to act as spies. I was a reasonably good actress and I wasn't really an emotional girl. I cleared my throat and said, "I believe I would be able to join the ranks of Voldemort. I'm reasonably good at casting glamours, and I'm well versed in the Dark Arts." This didn't mean I was comfortable casting them, mind you.

Professor Bulero nodded and asked me why I thought so. "I am a reasonably good actress, and I can actually stand the sight of, well, violence."

The dark-skinned Professor nodded and said, "What's the worst thing you've ever seen?"

I thought for a while. "I saw two of my best friends die at the hand of Lord Voldemort," I replied, doing my best to keep my voice level.

"How did they die?" Professor Muller asked me, suddenly looking interested.

None of your business! I thought angrily. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from yelling at her for asking such a personal question. It would've totally ruined any chance of being part of the Project. So I took a deep breath, looked her steadily in the eye, and said, "He hit them with a curse of his own creation, and it caused them pain worse than a Crucio. Then he casted another curse of his that made a virus in their bloodstream that eats the body from the inside out within five minutes." I was both surprised and proud of myself. I had told them how my friends died without breaking down, stuttering, faltering, or anything of that sort. I made it sound like I was telling them about the weather. I breathed a mental sigh of relief. _You can break down later,_ I told myself consolingly.

"I see. And your motivation for training all these years is because of that?" the African professor questioned, though the look in his dark eyes told me that he already knew my answer.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

The Professors murmured to each other for a few moments, but I knew it was my brother's idea to give me some time to compose myself. I felt really grateful towards him, which I knew he knew for he shot me a quick smile.

After a while each of the professors gave me multiple situations. It was designed to make a person think, and then say what they would do in said situation. There were a lot of different scenarios, and some of them really upset me. But I kept my calm, thought really hard about my answers, and told them the truth. The trio also quizzed me on what I knew about the events of Harry Potter's fifth and sixth year.

After what felt like an eternity they were done and dismissed me. I was so grateful and all I wanted to do was run off of the stage. But I didn't. I walked calmly until I reached my friends. I sat down, offered them a smile, and said in a happy voice, "I think they loved me."

Lefu, sitting next to me, grinned and nodded. "We couldn't hear what was being said," Lefu told me, "But the Profs looked pretty impressed."

"They did?" I asked, relief evident in my voice.

The dark skinned teenager nodded at me and turned back to the book in his hands. I eyed his shaved head and lifted my eyes to Kerri, who was seated on his other side. Meeting my gaze, she started shaking with supressed giggles, and I found myself having to hold in my laughter, too. We still couldn't get over the fact that Lefu had decided to shave his head.

Irritated brown eyes lifted from the book and shot a glare at both me and Kerri. "Yes, I shaved my head. Get over it already."

"Sorry," we mumbled, not really sorry at all. I eyed the seventeen year old's newly pierced ears and the baboon fang necklace around his neck. He looked like a guy you shouldn't mess with. Which was true – Lefu knew some seriously harmful Dark spells. I was even afraid of the seventeen year old sometimes.

"Look at Number 13," Kerri whispered lowly and nodded her head to the right.

Curious, I followed her gaze to a young girl who appeared to be around fourteen years old. From where we were sitting, I noticed that she had a slight build and short brown hair. "What about her?" I questioned, wondering what was on my ginger friend's mind. Number 13 looked pretty normal.

"She looks so…insignificant," Kerri replied with a frown. "She still looks like a little girl. What could she _possibly_ do for the Ravens?!"

As if hearing what Kerri said, the girl's head snapped up and she turned to glare angrily at Kerri. Before she could say anything, however, Professor Muller called out, "Number Thirteen, you're up!" The girl narrowed her eyes one last time, before standing up and walking to the stage. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, a tank top, and a leather jacket. She was filled with self-confidence rarely seen in 14-year-olds.

"Dude, I take back my words," Kerri said, her voice awestruck. "She looks badass."

I knew instantly what Kerri was referring to: The girl, number 13, had a vicious-looking scar beside her right eye. It stood out so much against her olive skin, that I was amazed at myself for not noticing it before.

Next to me, Lefu sighed with irritation and snapped his book shut. "Don't either of you know who she is?" he questioned, with a tone that clearly stated that we were stupid if we didn't.

"Number Thirteen?" Kerri asked uncertainly. She looked at me, but I shook my head. I had no idea who this girl was.

Lefu shook his head disapprovingly and said (in his teacher voice), "Her name is Kali, but she's better known as Kaliza Rayne. When she was eight years old, she was arguing with a boy living in the same orphanage as she did. Her anger mixed with her screaming caused her magic to lash out and smash all of the windows in the room. This, of course, alerted the Training Facility, who went to the orphanage and offered to train her. She's been with them ever since."

My mouth dropped open. "_The_ Training Facility? No way!" I gasped. The Training Facility was an underground group that recruited young children and trained them in all types of magic and physical combat and material arts. The chance of someone being recruited was next to nothing.

"_Issit_, really? Wow, she really must be talented," Kerri said, amazed.

"Yes," Lefu said bluntly and a little seriously. "So don't underestimate her. _Ever._" His voice was hard, telling me how serious he was being.

I sighed and nodded. I've known Lefu since I was eight years old – in other words, I've known him for roughly eight years. Whenever Lefu used his "serious" voice, it was better to just listen to him. I've learnt that the hard way.

As Lefu went back to his book, and Kerri started quietly chatting with some guy who appeared to be in a bad mood, I thought back to how, exactly, I met Lefu.

The day I met him was somewhere in May 2005. I wasn't sure of the exact date, to be honest.

It was a few weeks after my eight birthday when the news came that another village had been attacked. The reasons why the village was attacked were unknown. All that we knew was that they had done something to seriously anger Lord Voldemort. It was made known that there were only a few survivors. Adrian, who was nineteen at the time, was asked to accompany the then-still Auror Bulero and the other important Aurors to round up said survivors.

There were six in total, Lefu and his little sister being two of them. I remember my brother showing up at our house with young African boy who held a toddler in his arms.

"They'll be staying with us from now on," Adrian had said tiredly, looking years older than he actually was. "They are our family now."

I was excited to finally have someone to call my family. Sure, I had Adrian. But he was my older brother and the only family I've ever known. I didn't have a mother or a father or a sister. This was my chance, the one I've dreamed of for years.

"This is Lefu and his little sister, Abri. He is nine and she's two. Lefu, this is my sister Kimaine."

At first it had been hard to get along with the African boy. He refused to talk to anyone and was at his sister's side 24/7. But with time (and a LOT of chocolates) I'd managed to get him to talk to me. It was short sentences, things like "thank you" and "please" and "no thanks". But within five months, he started to open up, a little more each day. He told me what his favourite colour was; he told me his favourite food and things to do. We developed a tentative friendship.

By 2007 we were extremely close. We knew everything about each other, and protected each other's deepest and darkest secrets. _Nothing_ could get in the way of our friendship…or so we thought.

Two of my closest friends were brutally murdered right in front of me. There was no escaping it. Why the Dark Lord allowed me to live, I will never know. But this terrible image had been burned into my mind like a tattoo. The horror that I witnessed caused me to close up and build mile-high walls around my heart. It took four months' coaxing to get me to start talking again, much to the relief of Kerri, my brother, and Lefu.

Slowly but surely I recovered. I once again became the girl I was before everything happened. But I had a terrible hate which infested my heart. One day, I vowed, I'll make Voldemort pay for what he did.

Kerri heard me making this vow, and joined in.

We swore to avenge our friends, and to make a difference in this Dark world. No one deserved to live in the terrible Darkness that Voldemort and his Death Eaters created. _No one_.

"BREAK TIME! COME BACK IN HALF AN HOUR!"

The loud, booming voice of Professor Bulero jolted me out of my thoughts. I felt slightly disorientated as loud chatter started to fill the Assembly Hall and the teenagers started making their way outside.

Lefu glanced at me with concern. "Are you ok, Kim?"

I nodded slowly. "I'm tired, is all," I said. I noticed the badly-disguised impatience on Kerri's face, and added, "Let's go outside. I don't know about you guys, but I need the fresh air."

I didn't miss Kerri's look of relief as we hurried out of the school building. "We're almost done, thank goodness," she said. Lefu and I followed behind the ginger as she walked into the surrounding forest. I breathed the clean air in deeply. I loved the smell of rain that always lingered here. It was refreshing and calming.

Soon we reached a little mountain stream and plopped down onto the damp grass. Kerri wrung her hands together and said nervously, "I can't believe that it's my turn after break! Now I have a whole 30 minutes to stress!"

My eyebrows lifted in surprise. Kerri was Number Twenty, which meant that I was spaced out for far longer than I'd have thought. "You'll do great, Kerri, don't worry," I said as I leaned back against the Cherry tree trunk. "You shouldn't worry and work yourself up. Stay calm. This fidgety attitude is unlike you."

If it was anyone else, they would have taken offence. But not Kerri. She breathed in deeply and nodded at me in thanks. "You're right, of course. Father would kill me if he saw me just now."

I rolled my eyes. Kerri came from a pretty stuck up Pureblood family who was decidedly Grey. They chose the winning side. But Lord Alders clearly stated that, for the time being, their family was Neutral. I wasn't so sure if I believed him.

Lefu frowned suddenly and fished his BlackBerry out of his jean pockets. His frown only deepened as he continued reading whatever it was on his phone. He muttered a curse in Zulu that I couldn't understand.

Instantly worried, I asked, "What is it, Lefu?"

Kerri, too, looked concerned as we gazed at the troubled teen.

"I just received this text from _Wistful_," he started, referring to an Anonymous witch who spread word of events concerning Voldemort the second it happened. "She says: "Dark Lord strikes again! Hogsback the victim. 20 confirmed dead, more than 60 taken to Death Camps.""

Hogsback was a small village like two hours away from where we were. I sat, frozen with horror. _20 dead? _More_ than 60 taken to Death Camps? _What the F-

"Well, fuck," Kerri whispered. "Since when has there been Death Camps in the Eastern Cape?!"

"Since today, I would guess." Lefu paused as he received another text. ""3 DEATH CAMPS SET UP IN EASTERN CAPE. EXACT LOCATIONS ARE UNKNOWN. Be careful, witches and wizards! Voldemort is getting serious." This is bad."

We stayed silent, not sure what to say. This was…this was terrible. Death Camps are Camps that Voldemort created with the sole purpose of creating misery. Women, children, and men are all thrown into separate Camps. Each Camp had a number in a specific language. _One_ was usually used for men, _two _for children, and _three_ for women.

Rebels were sent to these Death Camps with the sole intention of either killing them off, or getting them to turn Dark. No one wanted to be in the presence of Dementors.

So basically, rebels were sent to these camps (which has similar conditions as Azkaban), until they finally die out of sorrow, join the other side or take their own life. I had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that Voldemort had been rather clever to think this up.

Death Camps were guarded by both male Death Eaters and Dementors. The men were there to taunt the women and mistreat them. The Dementors were there to drain every ounce of happiness.

In the past, South Africa had been relatively safe from Voldemort and his followers. But this year he'd decided to try out for complete world domination. Out of the nine provinces of South Africa, four of them were under Voldemort's control; those four provinces being Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the North West, and Gauteng.

_Well, make it five_, I thought drily.

I silently stood up and brushed the dirt off of my own jeans. The peacefulness that had been with me only moments before was completely gone. I needed to talk to my brother. Lefu and Kerri shot me questioningly glances, but I simply shook my head. "I'm going to speak with Adrian," I said. Seeing them making the motions to stand up, I added pointedly, "I'll see you guys when the Tests resume."

I turned around and left without waiting for a reply. I walked as fast as I could without actually running, and within minutes I reached Grey's School of Magic. I entered the Assembly Hall without knocking, knowing that interrupting the Professors would come back to bite me in the ass later.

Two pairs of eyes shot up in surprise when I entered the room, one green and the other brown. I breathed a mental sigh of relief that Prof Muller wasn't in the room. "What's wrong, Kim?" Adrian asked immediately, his shoulders tensed.

"You seem upset," Bulero commented.

"There's been another attack," I said, my voice tight. "It's said that there are 20 confirmed dead, and another 60 taken to Death Camps."

There was a pause. "How do you know this, James?" Bulero asked in a hard voice. "This is no time to play games."

I flushed with embarrassment and mumbled, "_Wistful_ let my friend know."

Adrian's eyes narrowed dangerously. Let's just say _Wistful_ wasn't very popular with the Aurors or Professors. Or any authority figure, for that matter. They despised her for letting the youth of today know what was going on. The media always tried to downplay events, but Wistful let us know the hard truth. Adrian breathed in deeply, trying to calm down. He shot a look at Bulero, who nodded. "What else did she say?"

I cleared my throat. "Right. She said that the Dark Lord put three new Death Camps here in the Eastern Cape."

"You know what this means, right?" Adrian asked lowly, after a few seconds of shock.

Bulero's voice was grim as he said, "The Eastern Cape is now under Voldemort's command."

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A/N 2: This is unbeta'd! Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it! A special thanks to The Golden Lilys Secret for your help and continued support (:

If you don't understand the South African Provinces, just google it under the very same name :)


	3. Chapter 2 - Social Darwinism

**A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! My internet was off :( Anyway, here it is! Enjoy :)**

**Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites!**

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**Chapter Two – Social Darwinism**

_**Kimaine James POV**_

I quietly returned to my seat as the Assembly Hall once again started to fill up. Further conversation had been put to an end when the first students arrived, which frustrated me. I wanted to find out more about how our life was going to change now that we were under Voldemort's command. I glanced at the two who entered. It was numbers 7 and 8, who, I believe, were born in Greece and the Middle East respectively. All I could make out of number 8 (Middle East guy) was his long black-haired ponytail (which was held in place by a bright red ribbon) that fell down to the small of his back.

He seemed like an interesting enough character. He was very tall, and from what I could see through his clothes, he had narrow shoulders and a lithe build. What made me the most curious, however, was the fact that he was dressed in a black Armani suit. This guy was obviously rich, and his whole demeanour just screamed arrogance.

"That is Ozymandias Malkira. Quit staring or he'll notice, genius."

I yelped at the sudden voice and whirled around to glare at the person who gave me such a fright. It turned out to be a girl who appeared to be around fifteen years old. Her black hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. I noticed how pale her skin was, and how it made her freakishly beautiful eyes stand out. "Uh-," I said brilliantly.

She narrowed her eyes. "Stop. Staring. At. Me."

I was immediately flustered. "I'm sorry! I just…where are you from? I mean, you have a South African accent but…"

"I'm extremely pale?" she said helpfully. She snorted and shook her head. "Blame genetics on that." She eyed me critically, seemingly searching for something. Finally, she said, "You're quite pale yourself, hey. I'm Number Ten, Cornith Cook." She stuck out her hand expectantly.

Yes, yes I was pale. Unfortunately. But that was because I didn't go into the sun enough to actually work up a tan. I blinked as I recognised her surname. Abraham Cook, her father I guessed, was a well-known Death Eater and was very important to Voldemort.

"Number Eleven, Kimaine James," I said warily and shook her offered hand.

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Oh, so _you_ are the little sister of Professor James. Huh." The tone of voice with which she said that immediately caused me to take offence. What was she trying to say?! "Anyway, I've gotta go cause my friend is calling me. Bye!" With that, Cornith turned around and walked over to an empty area at the back of the hall.

I blinked at her retreating back, and then I narrowed my eyes in concentration. Who exactly was that Cornith chick, besides maybe being Abraham Cook's daughter? I shook my head and turned to look at the stage as Kerri was called. The redhead waved goodbye to Lefu, who took a seat at the front of the Hall. Kerri then proceeded to walk up to the stage radiating cool confidence. I just knew that she would ace this final test.

I was broken out of my thoughts as a girl with chocolate brown hair cut in layers plopped down next to me. She had fair not-exactly-ivory skin and jade green eyes that peered at me curiously. The girl was dressed in simple but obviously expensive pair of white designer skinny jeans and a soft purple halter neck blouse. "I see you met the wonderful Cori Cook," she said in way of greeting.

_What was it with people randomly talking to me today, sheesh! Not that it was a bad thing or anything… _I cleared my throat and nodded. "If by wonderful you mean _wonderfully rude_, then yes, I have."

The brunette snorted. "I'm Vasilisa West, by the way," she said, looking at me sideways. "Number 23."

What was with these people and including their numbers? It wasn't as if it was important…was it? I suddenly wasn't so sure, and filed it away to ask Adrian about it later. "Pleased to meet you, Vasilisa. I'm Number Eleven, Kimaine James."

"Yes, I know. You're Professor James's little sister... Joined the group after the death of your friends. You've got a romantic interest in someone you can't ever have." She smirked as I flushed bright red. "It's not what I came to find out, though. Cornith Cook is a very complicated character, so don't judge her just yet," Vasilisa paused and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Now, I want to know…" the brunette said with a small smile as she crossed her arms over her chest.

I waited expectantly, wondering what she wanted to know. I grimaced and waved a hand to tell her to ask me already. I hated waiting.

"What type of wand do you have?"

I blinked a few times at the completely random question. I thought she'd ask something important, or embarrassing, but noooo. It seems that I was wrong. "_That _is your question," I said incredulously. "Really? Are you serious?"

Vasilisa rolled her eyes. "_Yes_, that's my question. Now tell me already!" she said impatiently. "It's not like you've got anything to lose by telling me, anyway." Her jade green eyes peered into my own curiously.

Ah, what the heck. "It's 9 inches, holly wood, and the core is a Sand Phoenix tail feather." I furrowed my brow and asked, "Why is this important again?"

"It's not," she said with a shrug, though there was a glint in her eyes that made me suspicious. "I just wanted to know."

I didn't reply as my attention was suddenly captured by Lefu standing up abruptly and walking hurriedly over to me. A sense of dread filled me as I saw the true panic in his eyes. As soon as the African man reached me, I stood up. "What's going on, Lefu?"

His answer was grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the Hall. "What the flip, Lefu!" I hissed when we were finally outside. "I didn't even say goodbye to Vasilisa!" I pulled my arm out of his grip and glared angrily at him, but frowned when he shoved his phone into my hands.

"Read," he commanded.

_**ATTENTION, WITCHES AND WIZARDS! The laws of L.V. will soon be applied upon Eastern Cape. Can't go into detail, but arranged marriages are one of the laws. Just wanted to let you all know in case the media tries to downplay everything again. ~ Wistful.**_

"This…this can't be right," I muttered, fear staring to sink in. The whole idea of having no choice about the person you will marry… "Lefu, she's got to be mistaken!" Desperation was clear in my voice. Arranged marriages….the idea as horrible.

Lefu's expression was grim as he shook his head. "No, she's not, Kim. I'm sorry. She's never been wrong about anything before." He run a hand over his face and mumbled, "I just wanted you to see this."

I bit my lip. "Thanks. I think we should go back now, though. I'll talk this over with Adrian and see what more I can find out, okay? Kerri will probably give us an earful for not being there to support her." The truth was, I didn't think I'd be any good company right now. The whole arranged marriage thing scared me half to death.

Lefu nodded and started walking back to the hall. Eyes turned to us as we entered, but I studiously ignored them. I quietly retook my seat next to Vasilisa. "You okay?" she asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah…" I said half-heartedly, "Just thinking."

She nodded and turned back to the stage, where Number 22 (a young African boy) was going through his final test. I was glad that Vasilisa didn't pry.

I sighed and ran a hand through my black hair. Earlier when I'd heard that my Province had now fallen under the command of Voldemort, I'd been so consumed by the thought that the used-to-be-snaked-face-bastard was _here_, that I'd completely forgotten how much our lives would change. From what I'd heard from my friends in other countries, Social Darwinism played a big role in Voldemort's regime. Of course we didn't get to know a lot about these laws, thanks to the media bowing underneath the Dark Lord's command.

Next to me, Vasilisa stood up. At my questioning glance, she rolled her eyes. "Stop spacing out, Kimaine. It's my turn now."

"Oh," I mumbled. "Well, good luck!"

She smiled briefly at me before walking to the stage. From where I sat, I could clearly see the determination in her eyes. I hoped she made the team, and if I made it too, I knew I'd be able to count on her. Don't ask me why, I just had a feeling that Vasilisa West was a powerful ally to have.

After another two long and torturous hours we were finally done. Professor Bulero stood and addressed the twenty five of us that were gathered in the Assembly Hall. He thanked us for our hard work, and also praised us on how knowledgeable we all were. Next to me, Lisa Reeds gave a smirk. She was from a really important Pureblood family and was, unfortunately, full of herself. "I'm going to be on that team," she whispered with satisfaction. "You'll see."

I rolled my eyes at her and nearly choked on a laugh as a teenage boy from behind us muttered, "You won't get in by spreading your legs, Lisa."

The blonde was highly offended and seemed about ready to blow up, so I made my escape as soon as the doors were opened.

I met Lefu and Kerri outside. "We're going to Professor Frost to see what worked we missed today," Kerri said. She grimaced and added, "I hate Potions."

"Are you coming with us, Kim?" Lefu questioned.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'll just bully Adrian to help me," I said with a cheeky smile. At the end of 7th year, he'd received an Outstanding in Potions, so he friggen _better_ help me! If he refused, I'd buy him chocolate…

I waved goodbye to my two friends. It was 15:30 and I decided to go to the kitchens to grab a late lunch. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a tug on my arm, and whirled around. I'd thought I was alone, but saw Vasilisa standing behind me. "Don't sneak up on me, Vasilisa West!" I exclaimed, but offered her a smile to show I wasn't angry. "Next time make some noise or something."

Vasilisa rolled her eyes as we started walking again. "It's not my fault you weren't paying attention to your surroundings," she said simply.

I rolled my eyes. "Good point, I guess. Do you like this school?" I asked her, not really enjoying the slightly awkward silence between us. I glanced at Vasilisa as we continued walking, and noticed she looked a little bit relieved at the conversation.

"It's alright, I guess. Do you like it?"

I laughed. "We'll, it's my school so I sort of have to like it," I told her just as we reached the entrance to the kitchen. It was a rather large portrait of Pieter Grey - the founder of our school. He was a lean and muscled man, and he looked at us with narrowed eyes. "_Ja_?" he rudely asked us in Afrikaans. **(Yes?)**

Pieter didn't understand English, so I quickly explained why we didn't make Lunch.

"_Maak gou, jong dame. Ek het nie heeldag tyd nie!"_ he snapped impatiently. **(Hurry up, young lady. I don't have all day!)**

I sighed with relief as the portrait swung open, and hurried through it. The kitchen was large and filled with House Elves happily working as they bustled around. Immediately a house elf named Sara approached me. "What can Sara gets missus?" she asked me. I'd met her once before when I'd sneaked into the kitchens in the middle of last year's exams.

"A plate of chicken pie would be amazing, please."

Sara nodded and turned to look at Vasilisa. The brunette raised her eyebrows and told the elf, "What she's having."

"Sara will be right back!" the elf said excitedly and hurried off to prepare our food.

I nodded and took a seat at one of the many tables. I decided to watch Vasilisa as she gazed around the kitchen curiously. It was probably her first time in my school's kitchen. My curiosity spiked as I noticed a small, barely noticeable rose tattoo in her neck. I wondered what it symbolized.

"How did your test go?" I asked instead.

Vasilisa's eyes flicked over to meet mine. She thought about it for a moment and said, "It went great. I didn't have any trouble answering their questions. How was yours?"

"It went good, I think. I didn't have too many difficult scenarios." Except the part where I had to explain the death of my friends…

Sara returned then and handed us our food. We ate in a silence that wasn't uncomfortable at all. After a few minutes, we made some small talk to get to know each other. I learned that she was born in Britain, and that on her 7th birthday she arrived in South Africa, making her stay here roughly nine years. "Wow, you've been here longer than most people have," I said with some surprise. "I've heard that a lot of the finalists have only moved to South Africa in the last five years or so."

"My dad had us come here for business," she said, slightly hesitating before saying the word "business".

I nodded. "That's nice, I guess." I glanced down at Vasilisa's plate and saw that she was done eating. "Shall we go, then?" I asked.

The brunette nodded and stood. We thanked Sara and soon we were on our way. "Where are you headed, Kimaine?" Vasilisa asked as we walked.

"Outside, I guess. I've been inside for way to long today."

"I'm sorry, Kim, but that will have to wait."

I cursed and whirled around to meet Adrian's tired face. "Adrian! What have I told you about sneaking around in this school?" I accused, my heart beating wildly. Vasilisa laughed at me, mumbling something about getting scared easily. I DO GET SCARED EASILY, DAMMIT!

Adrian waved away my words. "We need to talk, Kim. I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, Miss West" - here he nodded at Vasilisa - "But I'm sure you'll have time to talk later."

"Sorry, Vasilisa," I said apologetically. "I'll see you later?"

She nodded and smiled. "Sure. Enjoy the talk!"

I rolled my eyes and followed Adrian as he started to walk down one of the numerous hidden passages.

"Oh, and Kim?" she called after my retreating back. "Call me Lissa!"

I smiled. So we were friends now? That's good.

I entered my brother's office and, after taking a look at the seriously uncomfortable looking chairs, conjured myself a beanbag. I plopped down and watched as my brother walked to one of his many cupboards. He grabbed a bottle of brandy and poured himself a glass. Adrian downed it and poured himself another one. "Adrian?" I asked hesitantly, concerned. Adrian rarely drank.

He sighed and plopped down next to me after conjuring his own beanbag. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's just…we're fucked to Hell and back."

I gasped and lightly punched his arm. "Chill out, Adrian," I scolded. "Seriously, you don't curse _ever_. So don't start doing it now!" I was careful to not mention that I, along with my friends, cursed _a lot_.

Adrian rubbed a hand over his face. "I called you in here to warn you," he said. He peeked at me through his fingers. "Our lives are going to change drastically now that Voldemort is in command." He took a sip of the amber liquid before continuing. "Do you know what social Darwinism is?"

I frowned as I thought. "Sort of, but not completely."

"Darwinism is a theory that states that all organisms have evolved from common ancestors, through the process Natural Selection, which organisms adapted to their environment, will reproduce. Social Darwinism follows the same premise - only the strong survive and live on. Nazi ideology was strongly influenced by social Darwinist ideas." Adrian paused for a moment to allow me a moment to process everything. "Social Darwinism does not believe in the principle of equality of all human beings. It states that the weak and unfit should be allowed to die; that some human beings are biologically superior to others. It also states that the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society."

"So is this basically what Voldemort believes?" I questioned. "He believes that the poor and the ill aren't supposed to breed?"

My brother grimaced at my choice of words. "Those are some examples of what the Dark Lord believes, yes. When the Dark Lord first came into power in the First War, he was a blood supremacist who believed Purebloods were the superior race. He killed thousands of Muggleborn and Half-blood magical folk to support these beliefs. However, after the Battle of Hogwarts, he made it known that he was a Half-blood, himself, and that his right-hand was, in fact, a Muggleborn named Hermione Granger."

I perked up at the familiar name. She was one of the best friends of Harry Potter, who betrayed him in the end. "So that girl convinced him that he was being stupid?"

Adrian nodded. "She invented a potion that cured his insanity. After a while, Hermione even managed to return the snake-like creature into his former body, the one belonging to Tom Riddle." Adrian took another sip of his brandy as he thought. "So instead of believing in Blood Purity, Hermione convinced him to change his goals into Social Darwinism. I believe she, herself, got the ideas of that Muggle man named Hitler."

"Okay…and in this life of Voldemort, how will our lives be decided? Like I mean, Wealth, appearance…?" I asked, trying to understand. Blood obviously didn't play too big of a role any more.

"Reputation, Money, and then other things like Bloodline or Social Standing. Here is where Darwinism comes in again. That means that the society develops by making differences between the people, so that poor, ill, weak people won't be allowed to breed, but making things easy for the people with good genes. This is where arranged marriage comes in."

Crap. Even though Wistful had warned us about arranged marriage, I'd hoped that she was somehow mistaken. But Adrian's words just confirmed my fears. "Um…arranged marriage? That's, that's _kak_… How will we be paired up for these marriages?" I was afraid of the answer, but I _had_ to know.

"I guess that with us it will be the same as everywhere else. A team will be sent to our capital, which is Bisho. Either that, or a team will be sent to East London and Port Elizabeth. I think the latter is what will happen. Then, before the age of sixteen, everyone will be sent to these Teams to be assessed. They will decide who you will be paired with."

"So they decide, and not our parents?"

"It doesn't really matter, since our parents are dead," Adrian said bluntly.

I ignored him and continued, "What about those who are over sixteen and unmarried or unpaired?"

Adrian shrugged. "I guess that they'll be paired immediately."

My brain was buzzing from the overload of information I'd just received. Arranged marriage, social Darwinism…what more could Voldemort do?

"I think I'm going outside for a bit," I said, my voice sounding odd even to my own ears. "I need to clear my head." I got up unsteadily and walked to the door.

"Wait, Kim. You're upset I know, but -," Adrian said.

I shook my head and offered him an entirely false smile. "I'll be fine," I said. I turned around and left his office.

As I walked, random bits of uncompleted thoughts ran through my mind.

_Married off before I'm sixteen-_

_Not allowed to breed if – _

_Will I marry?_

_Not fit for it-_

_No choice –_

_Marriage – _

_**No choice no choice no choice**_

Before long I was back in my favourite clearing in the woods where I'd sat with my friends just a few hours ago, when we'd heard that we were under Voldemort's command. I sank down against a tree and drew my legs to my chest. How was I going to tell my friends? Kerri would be crushed, since she's been dating Connor for two years now. What if they didn't match and they weren't paired?

A snapping twig made my head snap up and I narrowed my eyes at the guy leaning casually against a tree a few feet away from me. Extremely tanned skin, narrow shoulders and hips, a long ponytail… "What are you doing, Malkira?" I asked tiredly.

He smirked down at my seated form. "Standing, what does it look like I'm doing?"

I supressed an eye roll. "I can see that. How long have you been standing there?"

The tanned teen just smirked.

"I'm Kimaine James," I introduced, not liking the silence.

"Ozymandias Malkira, though it seems that you already know this."

I noticed he had seriously amazing eyes that were a very dark grey. "I was being polite."

Ozymandias raised a perfect eyebrow and continued staring down at me.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked, mildly annoyed. Ozymandias averted his gaze to a bird sitting in a tree opposite him. "No? Well fine, then," I muttered and stood up. I didn't want to talk to a jerk, anyway. I left the clearing without saying anything else. My head hurt and I was in no mood for jerks.

The walk to the girls' dorms passed by fairly quickly and silently. As I walked I looked around me at all the greenery. I breathed in the clean, fresh air and pushed my hair behind my ears. _I'm going to miss this_, I realized as I walked down the path leading to our dormitories. The fresh air, the mountains, South Africa…

"What's it with you and spacing out, Kim, seriously," an exasperated voice said.

I glanced to my left as Vasilisa – no, Lissa, I corrected myself – fell into step next to me. "I've got a lot on my mind," I told her. "You know, what with Voldemort taking over the Eastern Cape."

Lissa nodded thoughtfully. "But what is it that has you so troubled? Is it because of your talk with your brother? If it is, what made you this upset?"

I stopped walking and took a seat on the grass. I patted the spot next to me, which Lissa took after a second's hesitation. I explained, briefly, why Lefu had been upset. I told what my brother had told me. I told her about the Darwinism and the arranged marriages. I told her _everything._

Vasilisa was silent for a painfully long time. She turned to me, her jade eyes serious. "We are Voldemort's bitches now, Kimaine," she said. "Just accept it."

I couldn't argue with that. It was true, really. What Voldemort said, was law. And you can't break the law without some serious consequences.

...Or can I?


	4. Chapter 3 - Mission One

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, IT BELONGS TO JK ROWLING.**

Thanks to my reviewers, you are all seriously amazing! You leave me speechless! Seriously ^^  
Special thanks to The Golden Lilys Secret – without your help, I'd be NOWHERE. :D

**Chapter Three – Mission One  
**_**Kimaine James  
Friday, 14 June 2013**_

"What the Hell?" Vasilisa said from next to me.

My mouth dropped open. My room was a mess. _And I'd left it so tidy_…I sighed and whispered the Patronus spell. My Patronus, which happened to be a rather large African Lion, turned its head to me. "Mikah, please give this message to Kerri: KERRI ALDERS, COME TO OUR ROOM RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!"

As soon as Mikah was gone, Vasilisa gave me an impressed look. "An African Lion, huh? Impressive, but not as much as mine."

"What's yours, then?" I asked curiously as I took a seat on my bed.

Vasilisa gave me a secretive smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

I rolled my eyes and eyed the mess that was my room…er, our room, since I shared it with Kerri (and now Vasilisa, since I asked my brother). The walls were painted a beautiful purple that gave the room a calming atmosphere, and we had one large window seat with some other smaller windows showing the beautiful mountains around us. Our room was magically enlarged, of course.

Kerri's part of the room was covered in a lot of posters and colour photos, documenting her life, basically. She had a dark wooden desk with a laptop on it and a little white lamp. Her sheets were done in silver and black – just like mine and what would be Vasilisa's. Kerri's part of the room was _usually_ very tidy.

Vasilisa's part of the room was basically the same, but instead of posters I'd put up little quotes here and there, along with some cards that Kerri and I had gotten over the years. There was also a lot of pencil sketches stuck to the wall magically. A large bookcase that carried dozens of books of all genres stood proudly next to the bed.

Lastly, my part of the room's wall was covered in black and white photographs. Photographs of me alone, of me together with my friends, one of Adrian and me, and some other random photos that I took in my life – both at home and at Grey's. I also had a dark desk with a black laptop, and my school books. I also had a bookcase – albeit a much smaller one than the one now belonging to Vasilisa.

I loved this room to bits. And now it was all messy! Our beds were unmade, books were strewn all over the floor, and a potion disaster lay forgotten at the foot of Kerri's bed…

"That's your part, Lissa," I told the brunette with a sigh. Her part was the only one that was still neat. By the smirk on her face, Vasilisa was well aware of this.

The bedroom door burst open as Kerri hurriedly entered my room. She grimaced apologetically as she saw my glare. "Um, yeah…about that," she mumbled.

""Alders do not mumble, Kerri!"" I quoted Mr Alders with a deep voice. At Kerri's blush, I laughed and waved it off. "Just clean this mess up, alright? And buy me a milkshake. I might forgive you then."

Kerri smiled brilliantly. "A chocolate milkshake coming right up! Er, well, we'll have to walk next door tomorrow for it."

She was referring to the Muggle café which sold THE best milkshakes. Vasilisa cleared her throat awkwardly, and I felt like slapping myself. "Right, sorry Lissa! Kerri, this is our new roommate Vasilisa West. Lissa, this is Kerri Alders," I introduced. I refrained from introducing her as Lissa, knowing that, at the moment, I was the only one allowed to call her that.

And then I noticed something strange. Vasilisa appeared to be awkward. I started cracking up. Vasilisa, knowing why I was laughing, shot me a nasty glare and straightened her spine. "Nice to meet you, Alders," she said formally.

Kerri lifted her chin haughtily and moved her gaze critically over Vasilisa. A snort quickly ruined this act of hers. "Oh, I can't pretend that I'm better than you!" she chortled. "Honestly, Vasilisa, call me Kerri!"

Vasilisa smiled a half smile. "Right. Kerri it is."

A loud, booming voice interrupted our little conversation. "NUMBERS 8, 15 AND 20 – REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY HALL IMMEDIATELY!"

I frowned. "That's Malkira-,"

"That Middle Eastern guy? And Xander and me, too. I guess I'll have to see what they want," Kerri muttered. "I'll see the both of you later, yeah?"

I nodded. "Bye! See you later, Ker." I gave her a quick goodbye hug.

I sighed and plopped down on my bed. "I wonder what they are needed for?" I thought aloud.

Vasilisa shrugged. "I wouldn't know. A mission, maybe." She hummed in thought for a moment, and then asked who Xander was.

"Oh, I've forgotten that you don't know him. His name is Xander Olivier, and he's been dating Kerri for the last two years." Xander was quite a good friend, and the perfect boyfriend. He loved Kerri with all his heart.

"Wow, that's a long time," Lissa said quietly. In today's society, it really was.

I nodded. _Whatever it is that they have to do,_ I silently prayed, _please keep them safe._

_xxx_

**Ozymandias Malkira**

"You will be spying on the Death Eaters," Professor Bulero said for what had to be the 100th time. "You are doing this figure out their patrols, plans, and anything else that may be useful. Understood?"

The two standing next to me nodded. Dark brown eyes belonging to the Prof pierced mine. I rolled my eyes and said lazily, "Yes, Professor."

Bulero's eyes gave me a warning look. "Alright. I'll give each of you ten minutes to get dressed. You meet back here, where you will take a portkey to your destination. Dismissed."

_Finally. _

I did not like teachers, at all.

I started walking in the direction I remembered the dorms being, but stopped when I heard someone calling after me.

"Hey Malkira, wait up!" It was Xander Olivier, number 15. After a second I continued walking. "Hey man, are you deaf?" Xander asked with a grin as he fell into step next to me.

"I heard you." I eyed him critically out of the corner of my eye. He had tanned skin, shaggy black hair, brown eyes, and a muscled body. Nothing special. Definitely a Pureblood, though, judging by his aristocratic features.

"Oh, so you just don't like talking, then?" Xander questioned, still with that silly grin on his face.

I subtly rolled my eyes. Was this guy an idiot?

"Eh, that's alright. Are you excited for the mission? I am! It's the Ravens' first mission, and _we_ were the ones picked-,"

I tuned out his monologue, not in the mood for constant chatter. I was tired and just wanted to get the night over with. Luckily I reached my newly assigned dorm room quickly, but frowned when I noticed Olivier following me into the room. "What are you doing?"

The raven haired teen smiled sheepishly. "I've been assigned to this room, too."

Great.

I walked over to my dresser and grabbed one of my best buys - a wizard Ninja outfit. They were expensive, but well worth the price. I quickly dressed and turned to face Olivier. He was dressed in simple black skinny jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. In his hands he clutched an old, woollen balaclava.

"Shall we go, then?" the raven haired teen asked.

In answer I stood up and led the way back to the Assembly Hall. Within minutes we were there. The girl, Kerry Alders or something, was already waiting with a nervous look on her face. She held up a small key and said, "This is our Portkey. It will be taking us to the outskirts of Hogsback where the first attack was located."

"Great, we'll probably freeze to death," Olivier grumbled. I silently agreed. It was winter, and Hogsback was naturally cold. In the winter, in the middle of the night, it was even worse.

"We'll be fine, babe," Alders said reassuringly, though she rolled her eyes when Olivier wasn't looking. "Okay, hands on the Portkey, people!"

So they were dating, huh? Poor girl. I obediently placed a finger on the key. It immediately activated and I closed my eyes against the horrible sensation that was Portkeying.

Within seconds we arrived at our destination. Alders and Olivier were sprawled on the ground, groaning. I looked down at them with irritation. Didn't they know how to keep standing?

"Don't even think of opening your mouth, Malkira!" the redhead hissed. She quickly stood up with the help of her boyfriend.

"Be quiet," I said lowly. I held my wand in my hand and whispered, "_Lumos_!" The light quickly replaced the nearly suffocating darkness. We were in the middle of a forest, and the ground was wet. There was a certain bite to the air that caused Alders to shiver slightly. "We should start moving."

The couple nodded. We slowly and quietly started navigating our way through the forest. Every crack of a twig snapping had us stopping in our tracks, but I soon realized that there was no one around. I straightened out of my crouch and was just about to complain about the lack of Death Eaters, when I heard approaching footsteps. They were way too close for comfort.

I hurriedly extinguished the Lumos and ducked down, pulling the couple down with me. If I'd waited even a second longer, we would've been spotted immediately.

"I'm telling you someone's there," a woman's voice insisted. As she neared, I studied her features that were lit by her own Lumos. She had an oval shaped face with a sharp chin and button-like nose. Wild curly blonde hair reached her elbows. From what I could see, it hadn't been washed in a while, and needed to be cut. "Just hurry up, you idiot!"

"Call me an idiot _one more time_, Vic, and I'll-," a deep voice threatened, only to be interrupted.

"You'll do what, kill me?" She laughed - a high, sarcastic sound. "Fenrir would eat your ass if you so much as touched me."

"Fenrir Greyback won't be able to touch me," the man spat. I noticed that his hair matched the woman's, only his reached just past his ears. He had the same oval face and sharp chin, too. His nose was rather large compared to the woman's, though. "He's like, what, 60 years old?"

From the similarities in their appearance, I'd guess that they were siblings, maybe even twins.

"It doesn't matter how old he is, brother dear. He looks like a 30 year old man, and that's good enough for me." The woman – Vic, or whatever – sounded way too smug. Her companion made a disgusted sound, and next to me, Olivier snorted.

I felt like killing him myself when Vic's head snapped up. "Did you hear that?" she asked lowly.

"Hn," her brother agreed.

Slowly the two approached our spot, wands held at the ready. I tensed in anticipation, ready to blow them to pieces if need be. Next to me, the redheaded girl trembled slightly. _Calm down already_, I thought with irritation. _It's really not that bad._

The woman paused with a muffled scream. "It's a snake! A fucking snake! Get it off of me, NOW! OH MY GOD!" she shrieked.

I smirked in the darkness. If she hated snakes that much, how much would she hate _me_?

Loud chuckles escaped the man's mouth as he banished the Boomslang that'd suddenly fallen onto his sister's shoulders.

"Let's get out of here. I fucking _hate_ forests. I'll send Fenrir in to look for the punk who's hiding in here," Vic growled. "We'll find you, you brat!" she called into the forest, her eyes promising pain.

_I seriously doubt it._

"Not so brave now, is she?" her brother crowed as he followed Vic, who was walking quickly in the other direction.

_What a bunch of idiots._

**Xxxxxx**

After another half an hour of fruitless searching, we finally found a Death Camp. Death Camp _Zimbini_, to be precise. Zimbini was the Xhosa word for two, meaning that this Camp was filled with children.

"This is horrible," Alders whispered, her face pale. "How many children are in there, do you recon?"

I frowned thoughtfully and made a quick count. "About twenty three, I think," I said. Two more little girls appeared. "Make that twenty five."

From what I could make out, there were six Death Eaters standing guard at various places around the Camp. Two were stationed at the front gate while the rest were patrolling all along the fences. The two Death Eater siblings from earlier had entered the small house that was built a few metres away from Camp Zimbini. They'd mentioned a Fenrir Greyback earlier, who was a werewolf, if my memory was to be trusted. Which it was, of course.

"We should get closer," Olivier murmured. "Much closer, if we want to hear anything."

I nodded in agreement. "Alders, I want you to go around from the left side and try to sneak closer to the children. Try to see if you can get any information from the older teens. Make sure that they make no noise," I commanded. The redhead nodded. Turning to Olivier, I said, "I need you to move through the surrounding forests and spy on any Death Eaters that may be lurking there. I assume that you are trained in the art of Legilimency?"

Olivier frowned. "Of course I am."

"Good. Then use it to gain information. Be sure to Obliviate the Death Eaters afterwards. Understood?"

"Understood," Olivier said with a determined look.

"What will you be doing, Mal_kira_?" the redhead questioned.

"I shall enter the house and see what I can find out."

Alders's dark grey eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You? _Enter_ the house? And how, exactly, do you plan on remaining undetected?"

I smirked. "I'm an unregistered Animagus." My form was quite impressive, if I do say so myself.

Alders looked impressed. Olivier opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Enough talking. We need to go now. Shall we meet back here in, say two hours?"

The couple nodded. I rolled my eyes and looked elsewhere as they said their goodbyes. God, with the way that they were acting you'd have thought that they would never see each other again.

With a final nod to me, the couple went their separate ways. _Finally._ It was time to change. I closed my eyes and pictured a rather small Black Mamba. I imagined my body morphing until it was the form of the King of Snakes. When I opened my eyes again, everything appeared to be a hundred times bigger.

I smirked (or tried to…snakes certainly did _not_ smirk), and slithered through the grass. From what I could remember, the house wasn't too far away from my current position, and I reached it rather quickly. Imagine my surprise when I found the front door wide open. After a few seconds' consideration, I decided to hell with it, and slithered right in. No one was around, anyway.

I heard laughter coming from above me and lifted my head. The sibling Death Eaters from earlier was making their way up some creaky stairs. The man was seemingly teasing his sister for her phobia of snakes, while she grumbled on and on.

"Shut your trap, dammit! Fenrir is waiting!" she growled. Vic stopped to breathe in deeply before she knocked on the closed door at the end of the staircase.

"ENTER!" a gruff voice called.

I supposed that the voice belonged to the famed werewolf. I also knew that, if I were to follow them, I might hear some interesting stuff. So with a mental nod to myself, I slowly sailed up the stairs. It was a long and boring task, but it was worth it.

Or not.

The room had five occupants – the sibling Death Eaters, the werewolf, and two teenagers. The werewolf was an ugly mother, his skin filthy and reeking of rotten meat. His teeth were sharper than what was normal for being in human form, and his hair was all over the place.

Vic and her brother were sitting at either side of Greyback, who was seated at the head of the small table. Tied to a chair opposite one another were the two teenagers. The girl appeared to be around seventeen, with pale skin and dull brunette hair. She was gagged. That didn't stop her from glaring hatefully at Greyback, though, and shooting the occasional reassuring look at her fellow captive.

Said fellow captive looked to be around thirteen years old. He had the same pale lips, square chin, and high cheekbones as the girl. Unlike the girl, he wasn't gagged. I narrowed my eyes as I noticed the dried blood in his hair and down his neck.

_I wonder if they are siblings._

"Has she said anything yet, Fenrir?" Vic questioned, shooting a disgusted look at the girl. "It's been _hours_ since we force fed her the bloody potion! She should be spitting out prophecies as we speak!"

"_Impetuosa Prophetia _doesn't work that way," Vic's brother said in a way that implied that he'd already said this countless times.

The_ Forceful Prophecy_ potion, huh? This girl was a Seer, then. The potion would've killed her instantly if she wasn't.

"Silence, Balthazar!" Greyback growled, baring his teeth. The werewolf smirked as the man cowered back.

"Don't do that to my brother, Fenrir," Vic said in a faux stern voice. "Little Balthazar will surely piss his pants if you continue growling."

Balthazar tensed and glared at his sister. Fenrir gave a warning growl, causing Balthazar to change targets. He stood up and moved to the tied up girl. She watched him approach with apprehension. When he reached her, he gently caressed her cheek. "Such a beautiful girl," he murmured. For a few moments, he stared into her eyes intently. He suddenly gripped her chin harshly and glared into her eyes. "Now give us a damn prophecy before I ruin that beauty, you bitch!" He released her chin with unnecessary force, making her almost topple down with her chair.

"Let go of my sister, you ass!" the previously unconscious boy growled. Huh, I'd completely forgotten about him.

The three Death Eaters' heads snapped to stare at the boy. "Did you say something?" Greyback asked lowly, dangerously. Turning to look at the crazy blonde haired witch, he said, "Did he just order Balthazar to let his sister go, Vic?"

"Yes," she replied with narrowed eyes. "Yes, he did."

Within a second, Greyback had stood and had his wand pointed at the young boy's face. "_Crucio_!"

The boy screamed, a loud, half-screeching-half-wailing sound that hurt my ears. What a wimp. He couldn't even take a Cruciatus Curse? Pathetic.

After a few seconds, the curse was lifted, and the boy unconscious. The werewolf addressed the crying girl next. "I will keep torturing him if you don't start spitting out prophecies within the next ten minutes. Understood?"

Muffled words escaped her lips. With a wave of his wand, the rope gagging her disappeared. "You idiot," she seethed. "How the fuck am I supposed to give a prophecy if I'm gagged and tied up?!"

She had a good point, I mused. These Death Eaters really were without brains.

Greyback thought for a minute. "Fine, release her Balthazar," he said with an unconcerned wave. He ignored Vic's protests and glared at a hesitant Balthazar.

"Thank you!" the brunette grumbled. As soon as she was loose, she flexed her arms. She muttered something, and the angry red marks disappeared from her wrists. Next she focused on Greyback. "The potion has long since left my system. If you'd give me another three drops, you'll have your damned prophecy within three minutes."

Greyback gazed down at the brunette, his gaze thoughtful. Finally, after a few minutes, the werewolf grabbed the Potion that was sitting on the table. Inside was a neon green liquid – the one thing that showed that this was, indeed, the real Forceful Prophecy potion. Greyback administered the required amount, and the three settled down for the wait.

I was curious despite myself. Never before had I seen the _Impetuosa Prophetia _potion in action, and now was my chance. The question was: Am I going to relay the prophecy to the Ravens, or keep it to myself?

Eh, I'd decide later.

The girl suddenly froze her movements, drawing everyone's attention. Her eyes were a milky white, and her mouth hung open. Slowly, words left her mouth:

"_During the night of the Red Moon  
Faith is lost for the birds  
When the second hand upon the clock's face  
Hints to the twelfth symbol  
Victory shall be theirs."_

Her eyes regained colour. She stared at the table, brow crinkled in thought.

The Hell? Birds? What _birds_? And I've never heard of the Red Moon. I would have to hit the Grey school's library…

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vic cried, interrupting my thoughts. She glared at the teen and growled, "C'mon, where's the rest of it?"

The brunette lifted her chin and stated clearly, "That's all there was."

A slightly crazed look entered the blonde's eyes as she lunged across the table and wrapped her hands around the teenage girl's neck. "No, you're lying! Tell me-,"

She was interrupted by a scream. A scream that had me frowning, since it sounded oddly like that Alders girl…

"INTRUDER!" someone outside yelled. It was followed by a series of crashes, a muffled curse, and then, "STOP MOVING, YOU STUPID LITTLE GINGER _BITCH_!"

Yup, definitely Alders. She had red hair, after all. Cursing her bad timing, I immediately transformed back into my usual self. The idiot Balthazar barely had time to react before I caught him with a stunner.

Vic let out an enraged scream and yelled out, "_Confringo!_"

I jumped out of the way of her surprisingly powerful blasting curse and took cover behind one of the chairs. By some sort of lucky shot, I managed to hit the werewolf with a full body bind. Vic, seeing this, Apparated on the spot.

I cursed the blonde witch and followed her example by Apparating to just outside the Death Camp. The sight that met me made me pause momentarily. Alders was locked in a fierce battle with four Death Eaters – she seemed to be losing. Behind her in the Death Camp, a large amount of bodies were laying unmoving on the ground. Were they dead?

Next my eyes slid to that idiot Olivier, who was holding his own against two female Death Eaters. I dismissed him and hurried over to the redhead girl who singlehandedly managed to mess up the entire mission. I sent a low-powered blasting curse at one of the Death Eater's feet, causing him to lose said feet.

"How the hell did you get caught?" I growled at Alders. I hit another Death Eater with a Tickling Charm, leaving him unable to do much except laugh uproariously.

The girl yelled out a curse that shattered her opponent's kneecaps. "They spotted," - she paused and hit an approaching Death Eater with a stunner - "My hair!"

I stopped moving completely. Was she fucking serious? Her bloody bright red hair ruined an _entire_ mission?! The hell!

"Look out!" Alders yelled and bumped me to the ground. She took the spell that was meant for me, and I watched without any real emotion as a large gash appeared from her right temple to the corner of her lips. She grimaced in pain. "GET UP, MALKIRA!"

I rolled over, narrowly missing the deadly green _Avada Kedavra_. I jumped up and sent a Jelly-Brain jinx at the stupid woman who'd tried to kill me. It was Vic.

She laughed uproariously as she dodged, her blonde hair lifting in the sudden wind. "That won't do shit to me, brat!" She lifted her wand and screamed, "_Reducto_!"

I cursed and barely managed to dodge the curse. I fired off a Leg-Locker curse that hit its target. I followed it up with a quick stunner that she was able to stop with a hurriedly shouted "_Protego_!" She undid the jinx on her legs and bared her teeth at me.

A shout drew my attention to Alders as she shot off a Blasting curse that broke her last enemy's leg. He fell with a pain filled groan. She looked up and gave me a grin. I almost smiled back, but stopped myself just in time. She was of no importance to me.

I noticed another masked Death Eater appear behind Alders. I ran over to the girl and threw her to the ground, just in time to get her out of the way of a deadly-looking yellow spell. "Constant vigilance, you idiot!" I growled at her and jumped up. Alders grimaced and quickly stood, moving to attack the masked Death Eater.

I turned my attention to another Death Eater that had taken Vic's place. Where she'd disappeared off to, I didn't know. I could just feel that this Death Eater was weak, and this was just proven when I was able to take him down with a simple Stunner.

"KERRI!" the pain filled scream instantly drew my eyes to Olivier. He was staring at Alders, his eyes wide with shock. His hand clutched his side, where a huge chunk had been…_bitten_ off. He reached out a hand in the direction of Alders. "KERRI!"

A smirking Greyback was standing a few metres behind Olivier. When did that bastard reappear? Before I could do anything, Vic reappeared next to the Werewolf.

Alders screamed one last Finger-removing jinx and jogged to my side. Her eyes widened and a scream escaped her lips as she saw her lover sinking to the ground.

Vic moved forward to the barely breathing Xander – no, Olivier – and crouched down.

"I-I tried, Kerri," he gasped out.

Vic slowly looked up to meet my eyes first, and then Alders's. With one last, slow smile, she said clearly, "_Avada Kedavra_!"

Olivier was dead instantly.

Next to me, Alders sank to the ground with an anguished scream.

Fuck, get up you idiot!

When she made no move to do so – and the werewolf and Vic started advancing – I put my arms around the fallen girl. I closed my eyes, concentrating hard on the forest just outside of the Grey school. I barely even knew the girl, and I certainly didn't feel any sort of attachment towards her, but I couldn't just let her die.

With a pop, we Apparated. I fell violently to the ground. I groaned and threw the girl off of me. She was crying hysterically. And she was heavy.

"Stop being weak!" I snapped at her. I stood up from the wet forest ground and brushed the leaves off of my ass. "Stop sniffling, it's unbecoming."

She stood up and glared at me, her eyes filled with a hate I hadn't thought her to be capable of feeling. "Why did you take me?" she demanded, her voice like steel. "Why did you take me away from Xander? I wanted to stay there with him, Malkira! I loved him! HOW COULD YOU JUST MAKE ME LEAVE HIM BEHIND?!" Her voice cracked and she clutched at her chest, as if feeling physical pain. Her tears mixed with blood, creating the rather gruesome image of blood tears.

Against my will, anger started to churn in my gut. I usually prided myself in not feeling any real emotion, but this girl was so _stupid_ that I couldn't help myself. "You are even stupider than I'd originally thought," I told her through clenched teeth. "How can you say that you loved him? If you loved him, you would've done something and not stayed on the ground like a weakling. How can you say you loved him, and still sit here being pathetic?!"

"Don't you dare call me pathetic!" she shouted. Her magic acted up thanks to her emotions. A strong wind nearly blew me over, but I managed to stay upright.

I sneered at her. "You _are_ pathetic! Look at you. You're barely sixteen, _girl,_ and you've been dating for what, two years? You can barely even _understand_ what love is!"

Unbidden images surfaced in my mind's eye, torturing me._ A kind, full smile. Soft brown curls lifting in the wind. The ghostly whisper of "I love you…"_

I pushed those images away angrily. Now was _not_ the time.

"Don't say a fucking word, Malkira! You have NO right to say that! I loved him! I loved him with everything I am! Who the hell are you to say otherwise?" she yelled, her voice strong once again. "Now take me back, I need to get him!"

I growled at her stupidity. He was no more than Werewolf food by now. "No," I said forcefully. Before Alders could open her mouth, I continued. "Xander is dead. Do you hear me? He's dead and never coming back."

I watched as her face crumpled, feeling a sick sort of satisfaction.

"If you go back now, they will kill you. That idiot Olivier wouldn't want you to die, because that would be a complete and utter waste. Do you _want_ him to have died in vain? He died to protect you, Alders, you get that? If you go back now, he would have died for nothing, all because you're being a stupid little ginger idiot." I breathed heavily and watched as Alders grew more and more subdued. Good. I had one last message for her. "If you really want to honour his memory," I said lowly, "Then you'd do your best to beat the ever-loving fuck out of the people who killed him."

The girl's head bowed down as silent tears dripped down her cheeks and her chin. She'd deflated rather quickly. With one last heart-broken look at me, she turned tail and ran off into the deeper parts of the woods.

I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. I hadn't meant to get so riled up. With a final sigh, I began walking to the school. I needed to inform the Profs about the events that had transpired.

But for now, I'd keep the prophecy to myself.

Xxx

**Kimaine James**

I sighed and closed my book. I couldn't concentrate any more. It had been hours, and still there was no word from those who had gone on the mission. I was worried despite myself.

"Calm down," Vasilisa said for the umpteenth time. "They'll be back soon."

"I-I know," I said with a sigh. I gnawed at my bottom lip and added, "But I have a seriously bad feeling."

"Don't worry; everything will be oka-,"

The bedroom door burst open, revealing an insanely worried Adrian. "Kim, you need to come with me," he said, his voice tight.

Shit, I knew something had happened! I shot Vasilisa a panicked look, but she gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back faintly and followed my brother as he practically flew through the hallways. We soon reached the Assembly Hall, where a blood-covered Ozymandias Malkira stood calmly, with Professor Bulero and Frost on either side of him.

What was the potions professor doing here? I wondered. Well, she was a Mediwitch, too…

"What's going on?" I asked hesitantly, looking at the grim faces. I glanced suspiciously at Malkira's strangely emotionless face. My apprehension only intensified.

The next few moments will forever remain one big blur in my mind.

The only thought that stuck, was:

_Xander is dead. He's…gone. Forever._

Voices called to me, trying to break through the terrifying thoughts. I snapped my head up and demanded, "Where is Kerri? Where is my best friend?"

For a moment, no one said anything. Finally, Malkira spoke up. "She ran into the forest. Um, it was near that place where I saw you the first time."

Yeah, when I saw what a jerk he was! Without saying anything else, I Apparated on the spot. I ignored the shocked faces. Yes, I could Apparate, all thanks to Lefu. The forest was cold and dark, but I moved without the Lumos spell. I knew these woods like they were my home. Which, in a way, they were.

Within moments, I reached the clearing. The clearing where everything started between Kerri and Xander: first meeting, first date, first kiss… Just like I'd suspected, Kerri was curled up in a little ball in the middle of the clearing, underneath the light of the moon. My heart nearly broke at the sight.

I silently walked over the collapsed figure and fell down to my knees. Tear-filled grey eyes met mine, filled with pain. I felt my own eyes well up. A sob escaped Kerri's lips and I immediately wrapped my arms around her. I hugged her to my chest, silently offering my support and sharing her pain.

Xander was loved by all. Most of all, he was the love of her life.

And he was gone, now.

He was the one who kept my best friend together. That job fell to me now.

"I'm here, Ker," I whispered into her hair as she cried. I'll _always_ be here.


	5. Chapter 4 - Preparation Part 1

Note – The guy who died is named Xander Oliv_**ie**_r, NOT Xander Oliv_**e**_r.

Sorry for the long wait. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter Four – Preparation Part 1  
Kimaine James**_**  
**_**Saturday, 15 June, 2 am**

I ignored the whispers and curious looks I received as the Ravens openly stared at my little group. Everyone had been summoned to the Assembly Hall for an emergency meeting. The Ravens were quietly speculating amongst themselves, wondering what was going on at this hour. They certainly knew that it was something big.

I knew I made a terrible sight – white tank top drenched in dried blood, the rest of my clothes soaked through with rain and smudged with dirt. However, the blood belonged to Kerri, not me. The Ravens didn't know that, of course, but Kerri's ugly looking gash was still bleeding for all to see.

On my left side stood a rather stoic Ozymandias. He, too, was covered in blood, but it wasn't that visible what with the black clothing he wore. As far as I knew, he hadn't sustained any serious injuries.

Professor James called for silence, and immediately all eyes were on him. His voice was serious and sad altogether as he started speaking. "Tonight, we lost one of our own. To all those who knew him, I'm sorry to say that Xander Olivier is no longer with us."

Gasps rang out through the hall, and I could even hear someone let out a sob. Probably one of his female friends. Those who knew him glanced worriedly at Kerri. The ginger was dead to the world, though. She was still in shock.

I couldn't blame her. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and nearly gasped aloud at the death grip she suddenly held my hand in.

My brother continued, "He was stolen from us while on a mission with Miss Alders and Mister Malkira. They had been discovered and had to fight for their lives. It saddens me to admit, but I am partly to blame for Mister Olivier's death – I was the one who suggested the mission to Professor Bulero in the first place." Adrian cleared his throat unsteadily and swallowed hard. "It is thanks to Mr Malkira, here, that Miss Alders was able to be returned home safely." Adrian shot a truly grateful look at Ozymandias, who didn't even nod in acknowledgement. Ass. "The first ever mission of the Ravens was a complete fail."

Next to me, Ozymandias twitched slightly. I found this odd for two reasons – One, the aristocratic Pureblood didn't strike me as the type to _twitch_. Two, he _had_ to be hiding something. Why else would he twitch?

Adrian's voice interrupted my thoughts. "And for this reason, we will have to assign four of you to the second mission."

Dread filled me. What was my brother thinking?! If this second mission failed, too, and we lost someone else…

"I know this upsets some of you, and I apologize for that, but I cannot express to you how important this mission is. A lot of extremely useful information can be obtained – information about the children in Camp Zimbini, the Death Eaters' patrols, their movements and plans for our Province. We also need to find out which Death Eaters we are dealing with, and who exactly is in the Eastern Cape. Not only is this information crucial in our movements, but Mister Malkira informed me that the Death Eaters have a Seer in their custody. He added that he saw them administrating the Forceful Prophesy potion, but he wasn't able to hear the Prophesy as the fight started out right about then. We _need_ that girl, and we _need_ the Potion."

A few moments of silence followed Professor James' words as they were processed. Finally, someone spoke up.

"Excuse me, Professor, but why is this girl so important?" a girl I'd barely noticed in passing asked. Sasha Covington, if my memory served me correctly. She had olive toned skin and wavy light brown hair done up in a high ponytail. She was pretty, too, and appeared to be around my age. 16, I'd guess.

It was a valid question, and I wondered what my brother's response would be.

Adrian pursed his lips as if he was debating something. Finally, he said, "If she happened to prophesize something that involves the Ravens, and it fell into enemy hands, we'll be done for. Do you understand now, Miss Covington?"

The girl nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I understand, Professor James. But…what if she already gave them what they needed and they had decided to…dispose her?"

"I doubt that they would do such a thing, Nix," the soft voice belonging to the guy next to her said. He was quite attractive, with shaggy blonde hair and a slightly pale olive complexion. At Adrian's encouraging nod, the guy continued: "Genuine Seers are hard to come by these days. They wouldn't just…kill her off. She's extremely useful to them."

I found myself agreeing. If I was evil, and I had a prisoner who spit out prophesies, I'd keep her close, too.

"You're right, Mr Orsino." As he said this, Adrian's eyes fell on Kerri, whose fresh gash, which ran from her temple to her lip, created a gruesome sight. For a moment, Adrian appeared lost. He didn't know what to say, and he just sent me a sad, tired and hopeless look.

I knew exactly how he felt. I wanted to smile at him, and I really did try to, but I couldn't get my lips to move. This whole thing – Voldemort, the purpose of us Ravens - had gotten even more real the second I'd heard of Xander's death. It was a harsh wakeup call from Reality.

Adrian seemed to notice my pain, and drew in a deep breath. He straightened and once again addressed the Ravens. "The next Mission will be on Sunday night – that gives you just enough time to prepare. I've discussed this in length with Professor Bulero, and we've decided who will be going on this mission." Adrian paused and shot me a quick, apologetic look. My eyes widened. No, he could NOT mean what I thought he did! "Kimaine James, Lefu Zorn, Vasilisa West, and Sasha Covington - you are the ones chosen to do this mission. You shall receive further details in the morning."

Brother or not, I was going to kill that man! What the Hell was he thinking?! He couldn't just send me away, not when my best friend needed me!

Seeing my anger, Adrian subtly shook his head, the same tired look reappearing in his green eyes. I deflated slightly and nodded. Fine, I'll give him a piece of my mind _later_. By the way he winced; he saw it in my eyes.

My anger wasn't unfounded. How could he expect me to abandon my friend in her time of need? But the other, irritating part of my brain whispered about duty. It was my duty to follow orders. It was the way I'd been raised.

_Shut up, brain._

Adrian yawned, and immediately looked sheepish. "Sorry…long night. It's 2:30 am, so how about you all head off to bed? We will meet at 8 for breakfast," he said. The Professor thought for a moment, before adding, "Dismissed."

As the Hall slowly emptied, I became aware of Malkira looking down at Kerri. I couldn't understand his expression, but his eyes were hard. _Why?_

Feeling my stare, his eyes rose and met mine challengingly.

I narrowed my own protectively. "Whatever is going on in that mind of yours, let it go, Malkira. She's just lost the single most important person in her life."

Some emotion flickered through Ozymandias's dark eyes, but it was gone before I could even try to identify it. He swiftly turned around and stalked out of the Hall, leaving only Kerri, Adrian, Vasilisa and myself.

As if sensing that this was a private moment, Vasilisa walked over to me, gave my arm a light squeeze, and left the Hall. I smiled faintly as she left.

For a moment, nobody moved. Then suddenly Adrian dropped his act and rushed forward to pull my best friend into a tight hug. Kerri tried to keep herself still, but her emotionless mask soon cracked and she buried her face into my brother's strong chest. Silent sobs shook her tiny body. I closed my eyes tightly, not wanting to witness my best friend's absolute heartbreak.

No one deserved this amount of pain. I wouldn't wish it upon even my worst enemy.

_No one_ deserved this.

_Xxx_

**Vasilisa West**

After the news of Kerri' boyfriend's death, I did not feel like going back to our joint room. I'd leave the two best friends alone to grieve their loss – I didn't want to intrude.

So I found myself tired, hungry, and bored to death. I glanced around at the lingering students, but none of them stood out right now. They were all tired-looking and weary. I shook my head and lifted my gaze as I noticed moving in my peripheral vision. It was that Ozymandias dude, and he was sneaking off into one of the darkened hallways – one I'd never gone down before.

Quickly drawing up a battle tactic, I superstitiously glanced around me. By now, I was an expert at doing this. However, the itching feeling in the back of my neck coming from the rose tattoo was a constant reminder of my _real_ mission.

Shaking my head to rid it of those thoughts, I decided to follow Ozymandias into the dark hallway, of course casting a Notice-Me-Not spell to not get spotted. The walk wasn't long, but what surprised me was the fact that the arrogant Pureblood didn't notice that I was following him.

Something was distracting Malkira, and I knew I had to figure it out.

One way or another.

After considering a few different situations, I decided that something important must have had happened tonight, not counting the death of Xander Olivier. Malkira didn't strike me as the type to read casually.

We reached the library and I raised an eyebrow at the section he was heading to. It was the astronomy section.

I watched as Malkira pulled out books about planets, specifically about the moon. After collecting a few rather large books, he sat down heavily at one of the tables.

After a few minutes, he let out a low, self-depreciating laugh. "Genius," he muttered to himself as he pushed a book away. He scribbled something on a piece of paper that he silently conjured, before pulling a second book closer.

I leaned against one of the shelves and continued to watch the tanned Pureblood. I wasn't exactly hidden, so I wondered what had Ozymandias so preoccupied. Besides reading some astronomy books, obviously.

Malkira paged through the book quickly and pushed it away with a disgusted look as he brushed dust off of his hands. He added a few more words to the paper and grabbed the third book. After a few more minutes, he paused and muttered, "During the night of the Red Moon, Faith is lost for the birds…"

Against my will, the corner of my lips turned up in an amused smirk. So Ozzy was into poetry, huh? Who would have thought? This was actually pretty good blackmail material…

""The last Red Moon of the year will surface on 23 August,"" he read aloud, frowning over the book. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, seeming confused. He turned a few more pages, before stopping at one and reading intently.

I focused my gaze on his hands, something about them bothering me. After a few seconds of intense study, I realized what it was. They were abnormally large. I snorted silently.

For the next few minutes, the library was silent except for the turning of pages and the occasional scratching of a pen. I was growing bored, and a huge yawn escaped me. I paused mid-yawn at the sudden frustrated whisper that fell from Ozzy's lips.

"Dammit, Estelle," he whispered and ran a hand through his now loose hair. "Get outta my thoughts." This was followed by furious scratching and then the drop of a pen.

Interest peaked; I silently padded over to Ozzy until I was standing right behind his chair. The fact that he didn't notice me was amazing – was he truly that distracted?

I glanced at the paper on which the Pureblood had made notes.

"_During the night of the Red Moon  
Faith is lost for the birds  
When the second hand upon the clock's face  
Hints to the twelfth symbol  
Victory shall be theirs."_

A prophecy, it seemed like.

Next to the first line, he'd scribbled: "23 August."  
Next to the second line, he'd drawn a sloppy raven which he then crossed out.  
Next to the final two lines, he'd drawn a clock proudly displaying 12 o'clock on a flag.

Then, lastly, underneath all of that, a single name was written. It was crossed out, but I could still read it.

_Estelle._

Seeing an opportunity, I said brightly, "Well, well, well Ozzy. Here I believed you were a cold-hearted bastard. Who's Estelle?"

Ozzy actually jumped in surprise (which he would later deny, of course) and turned deadly black eyes to me. "DO NOT call me Ozzy," he said calmly, with a threatening undertone. "And who she is, is none of your business."

I noticed that his face was once again carefully blank. "She must be someone important," I prodded. "Is she your girlfriend or something?"

Malkira flipped a page, acting as though he did not hear me. Fine, then.

"Where did you get the prophecy?" I asked, abruptly changing the subject. When he didn't answer, my suspicions were confirmed. "So you _did _manage to hear the prophecy that girl made. You lied to Professors James and Bulero."

Malkira flipped another page, completely ignoring me.

Which was fine – I'd gotten what I came to do.

**Xxxx**

Kimaine James  
6:23 AM

I quietly slipped out of my bedroom, taking extra care to close the door softly. Kerri had finally fallen asleep only moments before, much to my relief. The poor girl had spent the last three or four hours crying her heart out, falling asleep, and then wake up screaming from nightmares.

Thanks to that, I could not sleep. However, I could not find it in me to be angry with Kerri. It wasn't her fault, after all. If I put myself in her shoes…I shuddered as images of my reaction to my friends' deaths all those years ago surfaced in my mind. Let us just say I never wanted to experience that pain again.

I sighed as I slipped out of the Girls Dormitory building. As I'd expected, the sky was still dark – a fact which irritated me to no end. In the last few years I'd begun to hate winter – I hated the short days. I missed summer where the sun would rise just after five, and night would fall only after 8 pm. Now, the sun didn't rise before 7 am.

Menacing storm clouds in the sky already promised a crappy day.

_The sun would be rising soon,_ I thought with glee. _Thank goodness._

The air was cold and biting, and I cursed myself for not grabbing a jacket. I hadn't wanted to wake Kerri by rummaging around in my closet. I regretted that decision now that I was freezing my ass off, dressed only in a pair of black sweats, fluffy red slippers, and a dark grey sweatshirt.

_The sacrifices I make for friends. _

I walked along the still-wet dirt path, not having an exact location in mind. I kept my mind blank as I wandered through the grounds. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my middle. I was near the Quidditch Pitch when I heard it.

It was a muffled curse, followed by a sigh of frustration. I was instantly curious. I mean come on, how many normal people would be awake at this time, especially after last night. I silently moved in the direction from where the sound came from. I ducked underneath one of the Quidditch stands, only to be met by a curious sight.

Sitting on the ground with her legs crossed was a girl who appeared to be around fifteen (or maybe sixteen) years old. Her head was bowed, and from what I could make out in the dark, she had black hair in a pixie cut that stuck out all over the place. "Fucking useless abilities," the girl muttered lowly to herself, only to jerk her head up in surprise as she whirled around to face me.

I wondered idly how she knew I was there. I tried to hide my amused smile as she glared fiercely.

"You," she snapped, waving an accusing finger in my face. She jumped up and I noticed that she was short – about 4'11, if I had to guess. "How dare you try to spy on me?!"

"Me, spying on someone? Um, no," I muttered unconvincingly. I narrowed my eyes in concentration as I tried to remember who this girl was, exactly. The girl looked young (and not exactly familiar, though I knew she had to be a part of the Ravens), and I felt my eyebrows rise. Her skin was so pale it seemed to friggen _glow_.

Dull blue-grey eyes glared daggers at me. "What are you looking at?" she asked rudely. Suddenly looking self-conscious, the girl lifted a hand to her right eyebrow. The movement drew my eyes and I saw that she was touching a thin scar up the right side of her face that cut into the edge of her eyebrow.

I frowned. "That's not what I-," I sighed, "Never mind…What are you doing here this early?"

Narrowed eyes regarded me suspiciously. "None of your damn business," she said with a sniff. "Who are you, anyway? You're that girl from last night, who was covered in her friend's blood, aren't you?"

I grimaced at the reminder. "Yeah, I'm Kimaine James."

"Prof's little sister, right? Arcadia Welsh, number 25." She brushed off the dirt from her grey skinny jeans and straightened her dark blue top.

Something about her niggled at the back of my mind. What was it?

"We've got a Seer a while back. She is Number 25. Just… be careful around her, alright?" the ghostly voice of Adrian drifted through my head.

Right, a Seer. That's probably what she was trying to do right now – force herself to see into the future. "You know, you're not going to achieve anything by forcing your mind to do something it doesn't want to do right now," I told her conversationally. I thought for a moment and added, "Except if you had _Impetuosa Prophetia_, of course."

"Does it look like I have the Forceful Potion?" she asked snidely.

I bit my lip to keep myself from making a sharp retort. Instead, I said, "If you asked Professor Frost, Grey's own Potions Mistress, you might be able to get some. She's in Building C, on the first level, classroom number 41."

Arcadia blinked at me a few times. I offered her a tired smile before turning around, ready to leave. Her voice stopped me, however.

"Thanks," she said.

**Xxxx**

Adrian's office was empty, not that I'd really thought he'd be there. I still had a little over an hour before breakfast, and Adrian had the most comfortable beanbags… I sank down onto one gratefully and closed my eyes. Within seconds, I was asleep.

Gentle shaking brought me back to the world of the living. I yawned and blearily looked at Vasilisa. "What're you doing here, Lissa?" I mumbled sleepily.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Breakfast starts in five minutes. Your brother sent me here to fetch you."

I stood up and stretched. The hour and a half that I had slept wasn't nearly enough.

"I also brought you a change of clothes," Vasilisa added, looking pointedly what I was already wearing.

"What's wrong with sweats, slippers and a sweatshirt?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I said brightly and accepted the clothing. "Thanks, by the way." Lissa dipped her head in acknowledgement. I walked until I was behind Adrian's desk and turned around. I looked over the clothing that Lissa brought and found myself impressed. It was a simple pair of black yoga pants, a red tank top, old ratty sneakers, and a Bring Me The Horizon hoodie. It was perfect for training.

After slipping into the clothing and putting away my nightclothes, I walked back over to Lissa, who was also dressed in yoga pants and a tank – hers white. On her feet were obviously expensive Nikes. "Won't you be cold?" I asked as we hurried through the hallways.

"Nope. Today's weather forecast is 26 degrees Celsius." She didn't sound too pleased.

"Damn, that's hot after yesterday," I complained. Yesterday had been only 13ᵒC after all.

Nothing else was said as we reached the Assembly Hall. We were a bit late, and our arrival caused a momentarily pause in Professor Bulero's speech. I coughed awkwardly and said a quick apology. The Professor nodded and waved us on. There were only two places left – at different tables. I shot Vasilisa a sorrowful look as I took my seat. She grinned as she continued walking a few tables down.

After a second, Professor Bulero continued. "As I was saying, after breakfast there will be a quick briefing on tomorrow night's mission in room 15. Those not involved will go to Professor Frost's classroom," here he nodded at the scarlet-haired Professor stood next to him, who smiled and nodded. "Normal training will start at 10:30."

Professor Frost took over. "There will be a small memorial held for Xander Olivier – it is open for only those who knew him. It will be held at 7, at his family's estate. Those who will be attending the memorial should meet here at half past six." She shot a sad look at Kerri, who was surrounded by some of our other friends. "Now enjoy your breakfast, but try not to take too long. That is all."

With that, Professors Frost and Bulero walked over to the Professors' table, where 13 other tired-looking Professors sat.

Food appeared on the table. I wasn't that hungry, though, thanks to the harsh reminder that one of my friends were _dead_. God, I hoped that Kerri was okay.

"Earth to Kimaine," someone sitting opposite me said gently. I lifted my eyes and met warm ones belonging to Lefu. "Are you alright?"

I managed a half-smile. Lefu hadn't exactly gotten along with Xander, but I was touched that he still asked. "I'm as good as can be expected, I guess."

I started eating some porridge then, not in the mood to talk. Lefu thankfully got the message (as did those sitting around me). I finished quickly and stood. I walked over to Kerri's table. The ginger smiled tearfully up at me, and I gave her a quick hug from behind and a squeeze on the shoulder before making my way out of the Assembly Hall.

I couldn't face the crowd right now, not with Kerri being so miserable.

I knew how she felt, in a way. The day I lost two of my best friends… I shuddered. At least Kerri was not there to witness Xander's death, and for that, I was thankful.

I sat down on a bench that was placed all over the schoolyard and pulled out my cell phone. Somewhere during the night, I'd subscribed to Wistful's blog, and wanted to see if she'd already texted some updates. She had.

_A moment of silence for Xander Olivier. He was on a mission for the Ravens, which failed. He paid the price. – Wistful._

_Voldemort was in EC for a brief visit to gather information about the failed Raven mission. Whether he is still here or not is unknown. Be careful, Little Birds. – Wistful_

_It's been confirmed that werewolf Fenrir Greyback is in the Hogsback area. Don't go out at night, my little fireflies, or you may be dinner. - Wistful_

I sighed. How did she even know this stuff? Moreover, what was with her calling us _fireflies_?

"Don't think so much," someone said teasingly, "Your poor brain is going to explode."

"Shut up, idiot," I told the ghost. It was the most annoying ghost I have had the displeasure of meeting, and he just kept popping up. "Now shoo, Alberto."

Said ghost placed a transparent hand on his chest. "Ouch, now that hurt me, Kimmy."

I winced at the childhood nickname. Nobody has called me that since… I shook my head quickly. "Whatever. I don't want to talk to you right now." I didn't care that I was being rude.

The "young" ghost frowned and took a floating seat in the air. "What's bothering you, sweetheart?" he questioned, his tone worried. "You haven't been this snippy in years."

Okay now I felt somewhat bad. Sure, Alberto was annoying. Nevertheless, he was a good ghost who tried to be there for everyone. "I'm just tired, Alberto, that's all."

The ghost nodded with a knowing look. "Tired can mean a lot of things, ay."

"I know. It's just…the Ravens haven't even existed for that long and we've already suffered a casualty."

Alberto gasped, looking horrified. "Oh sweet baby Merlin, who was it?"

I grimaced. I did not want to tell Alberto that it was Xander. Alberto was a gay ghost, who had this huge crush on Xander. In addition, add that to the fact that I was not ready to talk about Xander…

"It's Xander, isn't it?" the ghost questioned quietly. "I can just see it in your eyes." Alberto paused, and offered me a sad smile. "I'm sorry for your loss, Kim."

I smiled but averted my gaze. This ghost, although he was super annoying at times, knew more things about me than any other being in this universe.

"It will get better, I swear it to you."

And I believed him.

"Yo, JAMES!" a voice called. I looked up and quickly studied him. He was around 5"8' and had a mocha skin tone. As he came closer, I saw that he had faded black hair and bright green eyes. He offered me a cheeky grin as he stood next to me. "Prof A sent me to look for you. You're needed for a briefing."

I nodded distractedly, still trying to figure out who this person was. He was young – probably fourteen. "Thanks. I'm sorry, but who are you?"

He smiled cutely. "I'm Jerell Payton Jordan, number 1. But you can just call me J.J!"

Oh. _OH_. I now knew who he was. Jerell is the son of Emma Jordan, who is a famous Healer. In addition, if I wasn't mistaken, a Death Eater had killed Jerell's father some years back. The poor guy… it sucks to not have a parent. "Oh, right, hi. Thanks for telling me, J.J."

I noticed his smile falter slightly, no doubt knowing that I was feeling pity for him. He quickly recovered, though and gave me another smile. "Better hurry, then. The Profs looked impatient."

I smiled at him. "Thanks again, Jerell. See you later." He nodded. I waved goodbye to Alberto the Ghost and started walking in the direction of the Assembly Hall. It was over within two minutes, and once again, I interrupted Professor Bulero's speech.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Sorry, Prof."

"You're making it a habit to arrive late, Kimaine," the African professor said with displeasure clear on his face.

"So start arriving on time," Adrian added seriously.

I nodded and hurried over to stand in between Vasilisa and Lefu. The African frowned at me, while Lissa just grinned.

"As I was saying," Bulero said with a pointed glare my way, "You will be leaving tomorrow night at eleven pm sharp. You will be transported right in the middle of Camp Zimbini. Do not worry about being detected – we have arranged four invisibility cloaks to be delivered later today. They are spell resistant and it is an actual cloak – so you will be wearing it. It won't easily fall off, either."

We nodded. My eyes were wide. Those invisibility cloaks were extremely expensive! I could not even afford one…neither could the Alders, or any other Pureblood family I knew, for that matter.

Adrian spoke up next. "Like I said this morning, a lot of extremely useful information needs to be obtained tomorrow night. We need information about the children in Camp Zimbini, the Death Eaters' patrols, their movements and Voldemort's plans for our Province. We also need to find out which Death Eaters we are dealing with, and who exactly is in the Eastern Cape at the moment. With the new laws Voldemort will soon bring up, we need to move as fast as we can. We really don't want any of you married off just yet."

I smiled slightly at Adrian's attempt at a joke.

Adrian's expression quickly went serious. "But please, I beg of you, to be careful. I am not saying that Mr Olivier was _not _careful, but… We cannot afford any more losses."

I bit my lip. Adrian made it sound as if Xander was just an asset. Which he _wasn't_, dammit.

Adrian cleared his throat. "Do not be late tomorrow."

"Yes, Professor," we chorused.

"Good," Professor Bulero said. "The four of you will now go to Professor Muller's classroom for a brief training session, before you will be sent back to join the rest of the Ravens. Dismissed."

Great. I really disliked Professor Muller – grumpy old bat, if you ask me.

"Cheer up, she can't be that bad," Vasilisa said quietly as we started walking.

"Believe me, she is," Lefu told her.

I paused as I remembered that we had not introduced ourselves to the other girl yet. I turned around to face her. "I'm Kimaine James. This is Lefu Zorn and Vasilisa West."

She nodded stiffly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sasha Covington."

I smiled and tried to keep my eyes off her birthmark that I had noticed seconds before. It was an inch beneath her lower lip. It was not that it was ugly or anything, but I was certain that it would probably offend her if I stared.

By the way she was refusing to meet my eyes, I knew that she was silently grateful.

I smiled sadly as we continued our track to Professor Muller's class.

Xxxx

"Do you understand now?"

I stared blankly at the aged Professor. I have no idea what the hell she just said.

She sighed. "I take that as a no. Miss West, if you would please explain to James here what to do."

Vasilisa looked away from Sasha. "Sure, Professor," she said. She walked over to me and shot me a grin. "Spell too complicated for you, James?"

I scowled. "No, I just don't get what the old fart is saying," I mumbled quietly to make sure said Professor couldn't hear me.

"Whatever. Okay, so the Telepathic Communication Spell really isn't that complicated," Lissa started. "In fact, its function is exactly as its name suggests. When using this spell, it enables the user to communicate telepathically with everyone who joined them in casting the spell. This particular spell lasts as long as nine hours – it all really depends on the castors, though, so it may be more or less than the estimated time."

I twisted my lips and nodded in understanding. I wasn't sure why I was having such difficulty with understanding this basic concept.

My mind drifted to a dimpled, smiling brunette. I realized what was bothering me – Xander. Even though we hadn't been too close, his death affected me.

Vasilisa sighed. "Look, I know it's not easy to lose someone. But don't let this shut you down, alright? We can't afford to have you unfocused. This mission needs to be successful, Kim. So get your head on straight."

I shook my head. "No, that's not it. We weren't close. It's not that I'm sad…"

Lissa interrupted me. "You may think that you're not sad, or affected by his death any less than I am. But the fact is, you spent a lot of time with him and Ald- um, Kerri, and although your thoughts aren't constantly plagued by his image, subconsciously you miss him. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can move on." Lissa brushed her fringe out of her eye with annoyance.

I subtly clenched my jaw. I didn't want to admit that I was even slightly affected by Xander's death anymore. Sure, I was sad earlier, and even crying. But I'd moved on. Right? "Explain the spell," I said curtly.

Lissa opened her mouth, to argue no doubt, but sighed instead. "The spell was created in Afrikaans. The words are, _"Bevry my gedagtes, kommunikeer met dié wat saam met my praat."_"

I repeated the words a few times, stumbling over the pronunciations. "I know I'm the one from South Africa and all, but what exactly do they mean?" I asked with frustration. I couldn't say the words if I didn't know what the heck they meant.

Professor Muller appeared next to me with a displeased frown. "You need to brush up on your Afrikaans, Miss James. Just because you haven't been attending normal school for a year, it doesn't give you an excuse to stop with your Afrikaans Studies!" she scolded. She cleared her throat after taking a deep breath and said, "If you translate it to English, it's something like "Free my mind, communicate with those who speak with me" if I'm not mistaken."

"Sorry, Professor," I said insincerely. "Thank you. But why is it in Afrikaans, and not Latin? I mean, most spells are Latin, are they not?"

The old Professor nodded. "Yes, that is true. This spell was recently created by someone codenamed Wistful-you know who she is, I assume. She's from an Afrikaans family, so is her group. The Fireflies are known as freedom fighters. Not much is known about their group, but it has been confirmed that at least one of them is a spell creator. Thus, this spell was created."

Okay, so that all made sense so far. And I also now understood (sort of) why Wistful had called us "fireflies" in her text messages. But… "How did you get the spell, Professor? And why would they share it with us?"

"I just told you that the Fireflies are freedom fighters, haven't I? They greatly approve of the work that the Ravens are doing, and were saddened to hear about our…loss. We received this spell via Patronus in the early hours of the day. It's very useful." Professor Muller pulled her wand out of her robe pockets and gestured at Vasilisa and me to do the same. "Not a lot is needed for this spell to work. Basically, all you need to do is reach into your magical core and imagine it leaving your wand and connecting with the magic of those casting the spell with you. No special wand movements are needed. Now, close your eyes and focus your magic. Can you do that for me?"

I gave Lissa a "what the heck" look, but she shrugged and closed her eyes. I frowned but did as I was told. After a few seconds, I found the pulsing ball of neon green energy that was my magic. With a few prods, I managed to pull loose two strands. I gently tugged at them and guided them through my body and out of my wand. They hesitantly reached out, and after a few seconds touched a purple strand, and then a dark blue one. The blue one was extremely strong, so I figured that one belonged to the Professor.

"Now speak the words," Professor Muller said quietly. "On the count of three."

One… two… three.

"_Bevry my gedagtes, kommunikeer met dié wat saam met my praat."_

Our magic merged suddenly with one another. The surge that was released caused me to stumble slightly and clutch my head. Oh gosh, it _hurt_.

"Don't fight it, girls," Professor Muller said sharply. "Just accept the magic and the pain will go away!"

Easier said than done. My magic was trying with all its might to push the foreign magic away. I grimaced and tugged at the neon strands, hard. BEHAVE, I commanded. They're welcome.

To my disbelief, that worked. The pain immediately went away.

_Holy shitcakes_, I thought

"_Don't curse, Miss James!" _The voice was painfully loud and seemed to bounce around my head.

I guess the spell had worked.

Now how to get rid of the damn thing?

Xxx

I wiped my forehead with disgust. Gosh, I was sweating like a pig. At least training was over now. Training was finally over!

Someone prodded my side, and I turned around to snap at them. "That fucking hurt, you moron!" Not only was I sweating, I was filled with bruises, too!

Lefu grinned at me, not sorry at all. "Something tells me you're hungry. You're always this grumpy when you haven't eaten in a while."

I rolled my eyes and continued walking. "Whatever."

"You know I'm right."

I hummed in thought as I wiped my forehead again. I glared up at the sky as I walked. "Why is it so hot? Isn't it supposed to be winter?"

"Yes, it's winter," Lefu replied, "But this is also South Africa. You know how unpredictable the weather can be."

"True." I rolled my shoulders, hoping to get rid of some of the tension in my back. "But 25ᵒC is still hot."

"Stop complaining. Jeez, yesterday you were moaning about how cold it was. Make up your mind."

I wasn't even going to dignify that with a response, I thought with a sniff.

Lefu grinned and grabbed me into a hug. "I'm sorry, okay? What are you going to do now? Take a shower, I hope."

I playfully punched him. Jeez, he could be such an ass! "I'm going to talk to Adrian."

"Gonna give him a piece of your mind?"

"You know me too well," I said dryly.

We stopped walking, as we were now standing at the entrance to the school closest to Adrian's office. Lefu smiled gently down at me. "Good luck in there, Kim. Don't be too hard on him, okay? He's still your brother."

"I'll see."

"Good. I'm not going to Xander's memorial, so please look after Kerri for me. Okay? And tell her I'll think of her. She'll understand why I can't go tonight."

I nodded in understanding. Lefu and Xander's families have always been at odds with one other…Kerri _would_ understand. "See you tomorrow, Lefu."

Thinking of Kerri, I needed to check up on her as soon as I was done talking to Adrian.

The hallways were slightly cooler, for which I was thankful. I kept my mind carefully blank as I walked to Adrian's office. I needed to calm down and be able to think rationally for when I give him a piece of my mind.

But what was I going to say to him? How would I explain to him that it was wrong to just give us a new mission so soon? That it was wrong to send me away when-

My thoughts stopped abruptly as I reached Adrian's office. His door was open a crack, and through it I could see Kerri's back facing the door as she argued with my brother. "Just let me go, dammit Adrian! I'm not a little girl anymore!"

"You are sixteen years old, Kerri," Adrian said calmly. "To me, you are a little girl. You just lost your boyfriend. There's no way I'm going to allow you to-,"

"I will go on my own, then! I don't need your approval! I just wanted to ask you first, since that's the kind of girl I am. But since you won't allow me to go-,"

"You will do no such thing." His voice was so cold that even I shivered. "If you so much as step a foot out of campus tonight-," he trailed off threateningly.

"Please, Adrian," Kerri pleaded quietly. I noticed her shoulders shaking slightly as she bowed her head. "Please allow me to do this. I need to do this. Not only for Xander, but for Kim and myself."

Why was she bringing _me_ into this, and what exactly was "this"?

"Kerri, I cannot-,"

"I'll be able to keep an eye on her," Kerri quickly said. "I can make sure that nothing happens to her. Isn't that what you want, Adrian?"

My eyes narrowed. Oh, _no way_ am I allowing you to do this.

My eyes widened as I saw Adrian sigh with defeat. No, no no no Adrian! What the fudge do you think you're doing? NO!

Adrian unfolded his arms. "Swear to me that you'll look after yourself."

"I swear," Kerri said unconvincingly.

"Kerri-,"

"Fine," she snapped. She shook her head, causing her red curls to bounce. "I'll look after myself as soon as I've had my revenge. Deal?"

I couldn't make out what was said next, thanks to my magic jumping back. I hadn't even realized that there had been a privacy ward, nor the fact that my magic had broken through it. I waited impatiently and with increasing frustration as their silent argument continued. Finally it seemed to end. Kerri spun around and left the office with a triumphant smile. When she exited, she saw me and offered me a smile.

"How are you?" I asked. I kept in mind the fact that I wasn't supposed to have heard what was said in the office.

She gave me a sad smile. "I'm dealing. But I'm much better now. I need to go take a shower. See you soon?"

I nodded and watched her leave. After a few seconds, I turned around and entered my brother's office. I sent a burst of my magic at the door and it slammed closed. I glared at my brother with crossed arms and tapped my foot.

Adrian ran a hand over his face and peeked at me through his fingers. "Don't give me that look," he said with a sigh.

"What look?" I asked, playing ignorant.

He dropped his hand and sat down heavily. "That look that says you're pissed with me."

"Oh_, that_ look. Yes, I am quite pissed with you, actually. What the hell were you thinking?!" I growled at him. "Sending me on a mission? Even having a mission so quickly? And my best friend needs me, for goodness sake Adrian! I can't just leave her behind!" I threw in that last line to see what his response would be, since if I was correct; he'd told her she could join us on the mission.

Adrian looked at me with a grimace. "About that…"

I allowed my eyes to widen with disbelief. "You can't mean what I think… ADRIAN! How could you!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I couldn't say no to her."

"Uh, yes, you could! You are her superior, dammit Adrian. Your word as a Professor is law – she has to listen to you!" I was aware that I was shouting now, but I couldn't help myself. I was pissed as hell.

Adrian glared heatedly at me. "I couldn't deny her revenge, Kim!"

"Why the Hell not?" I shouted. My magic lashed out, causing one of the windows to shatter. Adrian didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Because," he said quietly. "I can't deny her the revenge she seeks, when I'd do the same if I could."

My anger died down instantly, instead replaced by a deep sorrow and confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked wearily.

Adrian sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "If I was given the opportunity to avenge Mother and Father, I'd do so in a heartbeat. You may not remember them as clearly as I do…but I loved them with all my heart. It was cruel to have them taken so horribly from us. Hermione Riddle is to blame for their deaths. If she was in front of me right this second…" Adrian stopped talking and clenched his fists. "I would kill her, and make that little Granger watch."

Little Granger… the "name" sparked a memory I'd rather not relive.

_The shortest of them all was the first to lower their hoods. It was a girl who appeared to be around 13 or maybe 14. She had curly brown hair that fell to her lower back, and warm brown eyes. "Why did I have to come, Herm? I just want to go home," she whined._

I pushed down the memory, not wanting to think of that day…the day everything changed. "You never told me that Lady Riddle was responsible," I said quietly.

"I didn't want you to know. I think it was good that I never told you. If you'd known-,"

"Then I would've done something that day," I finished. "I wouldn't have just stayed there…But you can't punish Emily Granger for the actions of her sister."

_His two Death Eaters followed behind Lady Riddle, while the younger Granger hesitated. She made sure that no one was looking, before waving her wand at my bonds and whispering a spell. To my shock, the ropes holding me went slack. "I'm so sorry, Kimaine James. You're free now," Emily whispered before hurrying out of the room._

Adrian frowned at me, no doubt knowing what I was remembering. "Don't let her one act of kindness erase all of the wrongs she's done."

I started to feel angry again. "Don't tell me what to think! I'm just grateful, that is all!"

"Why are you grateful towards a murderer?"

I felt my face go blank. "She was there when you weren't. She helped me when you didn't. She saved me, when you didn't."

Adrian opened his mouth to reply, but I held up a hand to stop him. This was a sore topic for me. The thought that Emily fucking Granger saved me when my own brother was too much of a coward…

"Don't talk to me again. I'll see you tomorrow," I said unemotionally. With that, I turned around and left his office.

Memories of that night weren't something I wanted to have. They made me hurt, and they made me angry.

"_Why didn't you come to rescue us, Adrian?" I asked in a small voice. I was still cold, even though I was wrapped in a gazillion blankets. My lips wobbled and a few tears rolled down my cheeks. "We waited for you, but you never came."_

_My brother lowered his gaze shamefully. "I thought…I thought that you were…"_

"_SO WHAT IF I WAS DEAD!" I cried. "Who cares about me? What if _they_ were still alive? Why didn't you come to save them?! And who cares if you were scared? I'm supposed to mean more than just that to you. I'm your little sister, Adrian."_

"_You don't understand how afraid I was-," _

"_No, Adrian," I interrupted him. "You have no idea how _I_ felt."_

I shook the awful memory from my mind. Now wasn't the time.

As soon as I reached the room I shared with Vasilisa and Kerri, I grabbed my clothes for the memorial and entered the connected (magically-enlarged) bathroom. I took a long shower, imagining all of my negative emotions flowing out of my body and going down the drain. I couldn't think of only myself tonight; I needed to be Kerri's pillar.

With that thought, I finished my shower and climbed out. I quickly towelled myself off and got dressed. I muttered a drying spell on my hair, and after that slipped into my shoes. I looked myself in the mirror – something I haven't done in quite a while. I started at my shoes. They were plain black ballet flats. Next were my stocking-clad legs, and then the decent-length plain black dress. On my wrists were a few different multi-coloured bracelets-gifts I'd gotten from Xander over the time I'd known him. I also wore the pair of diamond earrings he'd bought me for my sixteenth birthday. I sighed and looked into my eyes. Tonight they were a dark green – a lot darker than they usually were. My straight black hair made me look even paler than I usually was, but for once I couldn't find it in me to care.

I noticed once again how similar Adrian and I looked – the same jaw, lips, and eyes – and I quickly turned around and left the bathroom. Kerri was sitting on my bed, waiting for me. She was once again sad-looking, and I sighed. I walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "It's time, Ker," I said quietly.

She nodded and stood. Slowly we left our room to go to the meeting place for Xander's memorial.

It was going to be a long, painful night.

_xxx_

**Ozymandias Malkira**

Egypt, how I have missed you, I thought dryly as I stepped out of the fireplace. I hated long-distance Floo-ing, but it was necessary. I still had some things to take care of at the family estate.

"Mister Malkira, you're home!" a servant exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement.

I studied her face. Darkly tanned, black hair, dark eyes. Nothing special. I dismissed her and started walking to my bedroom. I reached it without any delay, and was pleased to notice that someone had lit my fireplace. I took a seat in my chair and stared into the dancing flames.

The last two days have been…interesting, to say the least. The first mission, death, that Alders girl and her friend, the professor's sister… and that annoying West girl. She seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't remember where I've heard of her before. Maybe…no, that can't be.

A servant handed me a glass of amber liquid. I took a sip and was pleased to taste my favourite brand of brandy. Very lightly tanned skin, extremely long hair, green eyes… "Thank you, Isis." Isis was a favourite of mine. She was the only intelligent servant I had.

"Of course, Mister Malkira," the servant said with a small curtsey. "How is South Africa?"

I took another long drink and sighed. "Does the name Vasilisa West seem familiar to you?" I asked instead.

Her eyes narrowed in thought. After a few seconds, she nodded. "Yes, it does, Sir. Vasilisa West's father is the leader of the group Jang Mii, which is Korean for rose. The group can be seen as the Mafia. They are very influential in Britain and certain parts of Africa."

I hummed in thought. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around for so long, Isis."

The servant smiled at the praise and bowed her head.

"I'm going to bed," I said lazily as I finished my drink. "Wake me up at 8 tomorrow. Dismissed."

Isis nodded, bowed, and left the room. After redressing into my night clothes, I slipped into my large bed. I fell asleep almost immediately.

Images of _her_ plagued my dreams.

_Estelle smiled at me - a kind, full smile. Her soft brown curls lifted in the gentle wind. "I love you, Ozymandias Malkira."_

I slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.


	6. Author's Note

Hello my lovely readers!

You are all probably wondering why I haven't updated in more than a month, am I right?

Well. It's a long story. No, it really is.

This last term has been a disaster. Everything that could possibly go wrong _did_ go wrong. I'm not going to bore you with the details, except for the newest bit.

It happened on Saturday. Chapter Five (The Battle, or Preparation Part Two) was nearly finished. I went to the mall with my sister to watch The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones.

And guess what? My laptop got stolen. Not only my laptop and everything on it, but my external hard drive with my backups, too. I lost every bit of writing I ever had.

So it might be a while before chapter five is complete. Please bear with me, and don't be too angry! I have a short vacation starting on Friday, so I'll try to complete chapter five and six. No promises, though!

Until then

Insane Insanity 51

Xxx

P.S. Check out my One Shot involving Kimaine! It's under the oh-so-original title One Shots.


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